Downsizing: cause vs. effect
Downsizing most often arises as a response to home office, empty offices, or even cost pressures. Companies are trying to reduce fixed expenses associated with rent, energy, and office operations – which is understandable given today’s high rents and energy prices.
However, the decision to purely downsize the area under the old model of 5 days on-site from 9am to 5pm, does not take into account:
- the actual occupancy of the premises
- the types of activities that happen in the office today
- the need for new types of spaces for new ways of working
The result of downsizing can be an overcrowded office, where the spaces for meetings, focused work and collaboration are not properly designed.
Rightsizing: strategic alignment
Rightsizing in principle means setting up the space to match actual work patterns, processes and corporate strategy. This approach doesn’t just mean making the space smaller – it means optimizing it, including when:
- the area does not change, but the arrangement of the zones within it changes
- the office is moving to a more suitable location
- functional spaces for key activities are preserved
According to studies by real estate consultants, a significant number of companies today are rightsizing their portfolio rather than simply downsizing – the goal is adaptive and agile office space, not just a smaller office.
Space planning as an effective tool
A practical model of rightsizing design may look like this:
- Office usage analysis – collecting data on occupancy, activities and types of working days.
- Define people’s needs across the hierarchy – identify key ways of working (creative collaboration, silent working, meetings).
- Zone design and test fit – visualization, testing of plan variations.
While downsizing often brings short-term savings, it does not address the real needs of the company and can lead to inefficient use of space. Rightsizing, on the other hand, is a holistic and strategic approach – based on data, efficiency, and the future strategy of the organization.
