More than 16,000 office workers across 16 countries contributed to Gensler’s newly published 2026 Global Workplace Survey, which finds many workplaces have failed to keep pace with hybrid work and AI-enabled workflows. The majority of workers polled cite a range of design issues not yet resolved in the post-COVID landscape, requiring many to improvise and innovate upon restrictive workplace environments.
Two-thirds of office workers claim to regularly adapt or work around design shortcomings. Sixty-five percent use meeting rooms for solo focus work, 60 percent hold meetings at their desks, and 64 percent take calls in hallways. When rooms aren’t available, 43 percent cancel meetings altogether as well. Nine percent of those working in hot desking offices prefer assigned seats, but that hasn’t stopped 34 percent from personalizing their space anyway.
About 30 percent of respondents identified as AI power users indicated they are more likely to come into the office for collaboration and access to technology. This particular pool also reports to spend more time learning and socializing. “Gensler’s new Global Workplace Survey found something surprising about AI in the workplace. More than just increasing individual efficiency, AI is also becoming a tool to strengthen learning, collaboration and team connection,” says Gensler co-CEO Elizabeth Brink. “It is often the physical workplace that unlocks a company’s learning and innovation culture and encourages that transformation to happen.”
