Nearly half of companies in Romania expect employees to come to the office three to four days a week in 2026, as hybrid working becomes more structured, according to a survey conducted by Colliers among 101 companies.
Around three quarters of organisations intend to maintain their current office footprint, even though 55% of companies say their offices are less occupied today than before.
The Colliers survey was conducted among companies in the country's main office hubs. Most respondents are based in Bucharest (90%), but the study also includes companies from Cluj-Napoca (25%) and Timișoara (16%). The IT&C sector accounts for 33% of respondents and professional services for 14%.
Regarding the outlook for 2026, 75.25% of companies intend to keep approximately the same office area. Only 8.9% expect to reduce their space by up to 25%, while around 9% anticipate moderate growth and less than 3% expect expansions. At the same time, 31.3% of companies anticipate a working model with one to two days per week in the office.
"Companies are no longer trying to radically change the way people work, but rather to adjust and gradually refine it," explains Daniela Popescu, Director of Tenant Services & Workplace Advisory at Colliers. "The survey data shows a clear trend towards a more structured hybrid model, in which employees come to the office more often than in recent years, but without returning to the traditional five-day office schedule."
When it comes to measures used by companies to encourage employees to return to the office, around 50.5% say they have not introduced special initiatives. Companies that do attempt to stimulate office attendance mainly organise internal events (34.6%), introduce rules regarding physical presence (27.7%), or upgrade working spaces (20.8%). Two thirds of companies have already implemented wellbeing programmes, including initiatives such as coaching, therapy, workshops and social activities.
