More People in the Office Than Before the Pandemic: What Ireland’s Attendance Inflection Point Means for Fitout

The CSO Labour Force Survey Q4 2025, published 19 February 2026, confirmed a landmark shift. In-person attendance reached 1.866 million people at end of 2025, a 4.1% quarterly increase that exceeded the pre-pandemic Q4 2019 figure of 1.861 million for the first time. Home working fell to 956,700, down from a peak of 992,600 in Q1 2021. For the fitout sector, the implication is direct: offices configured for hybrid-era density are now receiving more people than they were specified to accommodate.

This inflection point creates a data-evidenced case for fitout review conversations across the Irish commercial market. The attendance figures reveal a specification gap between current office configurations and the headcount they are now receiving. Practitioners who bring that analysis to existing clients — identifying where acoustic provision, desk supply, and welfare facilities are misaligned with current attendance — will generate a new category of advisory-led refurbishment work.

The human consequence of offices not redesigned for returning headcount is visible. Morgan McKinley found that 51% of Irish financial services employees are dissatisfied with attendance expectations, with 62% saying increased office time has heightened their desire to leave. Where noise, density, and inadequate focus provision drive that friction, the fitout specification is the variable employers can change — and improving it strengthens both retention and the return on office investment.

The specification gaps that rising attendance makes acute are well evidenced. Leesman’s workplace data records noise satisfaction at just 35% across surveyed workplaces and quiet rooms at 40% — fitout decisions that grow more consequential as occupancy exceeds hybrid-era thresholds. Increased headcount without investment in acoustic zoning and focus room provision reduces the productivity return attendance is intended to deliver, making the case for the next fitout cycle financially urgent.

In Dublin’s current market, upgrading existing space is more commercially viable than new-build. CBRE Ireland’s Real Estate Market Outlook 2026 confirms Grade A supply is constrained and prime rents are forecast to rise 8% in 2026. The Turner and Townsend Global Office Fit-Out Cost Guide 2026 records Dublin high-specification fitout costs at US$3,878 (approximately €3,582) per square metre, with BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit Out providing the certification framework that makes occupied reconfiguration ESG-credible.

Three advisory actions position Irish fitout firms to capitalise on this moment. First, initiate post-occupancy attendance reviews with existing clients, presenting CSO data alongside utilisation analysis to build the evidence base for a reconfiguration brief. Second, develop a rapid fitout audit covering acoustic provision, focus room supply, welfare capacity, and desk-to-headcount ratios, enabling the firm to quantify the specification gap and scope a proportionate response. Third, position BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit Out as the standard output for occupied upgrade projects, giving clients the ESG credential sustainability reporting and landlord expectations increasingly demand.

The CSO data marks the end of one design era and the beginning of another. Ireland’s offices were reconfigured for hybrid working; they are now absorbing a fully returned workforce. The fitout sector is well positioned to identify where the gap between those two realities is largest and deliver the targeted upgrades that close it, generating a new pipeline and stronger advisory relationships with clients who need the conversation most.

(The views expressed by the writer are his/her own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of BusinessRiver.)