Agócs Balázs, Head of Workplace Services CEE & SEE, iO Partners: Office market enters a new phase, flexibility, quality, and data are driving decisions

- The commercial real estate market in Serbia and the wider region is continuing to adapt to new ways of working, but demand for high-quality office space remains strong. While vacancy levels are still relatively low in the most desirable business locations, the market itself has remained active. In Belgrade alone, around 140,000 sqm of office space is currently under construction and expected to be completed by the end of 2027, adding significant new capacity to the market.

At the same time, companies are becoming more selective in their real estate decisions, increasingly focusing on higher-quality buildings, better locations, and office environments that support today’s ways of working. We are also seeing continued growth in flexible workspace solutions, particularly coworking and serviced offices, which are no longer used only by startups and smaller teams but are increasingly being considered by larger organizations looking for greater flexibility.

Although hybrid work has changed how offices are used, physical workspace continues to play an important role in company culture, collaboration, and attracting talent. Today, the question is no longer whether companies need offices, but how to design and use them in a way that better supports business goals and employees’ needs.

- Hybrid work has fundamentally changed the way companies approach office planning. Today, decisions are no longer based on the assumption that employees will be in the office every day, but on understanding how people work and how frequently they use the space. As office usage is becoming decreasingly homogeneous, design should reflect different needs on personal and department level, and spaces should be able to serve the various activities and offer alternatives for focus or collaborative activities.

Companies are shifting toward more flexible and activity-based workplace strategies, introducing shared desks, collaboration areas, and more dynamic approaches to managing office attendance. As a result, traditional planning models based purely on square meters per employee have become obsolete, and new methodologies, processes and tools emerge in workplace strategy.

One of the biggest challenges today is no longer simply finding the right office space but determining how much space is needed and how to plan with confidence. Companies are balancing changing attendance patterns with lease commitments and employees’ expectations around workplace quality and experience. Once relocation and fit-out costs are considered, office space decisions are no longer purely operational. They become strategic business decisions.

- iO4Workplace was developed in response to the evolving demands of workplace and office portfolio management. The platform enables companies to take a faster, more structured, and data-driven approach about their space requirements, replacing assumptions with objective scenario analysis.

Through a simple and efficient process, the platform evaluates organizational structure, workplace strategy, and existing lease commitments to generate multiple occupancy and space planning scenarios. This provides management teams with a clear understanding of available options, whether optimizing existing premises, relocating, or reconfiguring the workplace, together with a transparent view of the financial implications and long-term impact of each decision. Although it is not a decision-making tool, it takes tenants through the strategy process encompassing all necessary elements and steps towards a well-grounded decision, guided by iO consultants.

- In practice, this remains one of the biggest challenges in workplace and real estate decision-making today. Traditional planning models often do not reflect actual workplace usage and can result in either excess capacity or insufficient space to support business needs. Hybrid work has made planning even more complex, as office attendance patterns continue to vary from day to day and during the lease period. Without a data-driven understanding of how space is being used, companies often rely on assumptions when making workplace decisions, which can lead to unnecessary occupancy costs or limit their ability to support future growth.

- The idea behind the “five questions” framework is to simplify what a complex workplace planning process is typically. By capturing a small number of key inputs, the platform quickly builds a realistic view of how office space is used. The platform looks at factors such as team size, current office setup and lease arrangements, team structure, office attendance patterns, and ways of working. Based on these inputs, it estimates the optimal number of workstations and the amount of space required, helping companies make faster and more informed workplace decisions. This means ample input for scenarios building and lays down the framework for detailed occupancy and space planning.

- One of the platform’s key strengths is its ability to help management evaluate and compare different workplace scenarios in one place. Whether a company is considering renewing its current lease, reconfiguring its office, or relocating, the platform provides a clear view of the financial impact of each option over time, including lease costs, fit-out investments, and operating expenses. This overview enables companies to ask the right questions of business unit leaders and employees about office usage, as well as of leasing consultants about real market options, and to assess the budgets of the scenarios under consideration. Taking a holistic view of current demand and future potential helps companies make faster, more informed decisions and build workplace strategies that are financially sustainable in the long term.

- Today, making workplace decisions requires more than just data, but also more than experience alone. Data helps companies understand how space is being used and identify opportunities for improvement, while market expertise provides the context needed to turn those insights into effective decisions. The strongest outcomes come from combining analytics with practical advisory experience and a clear understanding of industry trends, business needs, and workplace strategy. This approach helps companies make workplace decisions that are not only efficient on paper, but also realistic, sustainable, and effective in practice.

- Office space management is entering a new phase where decisions will increasingly be driven by data and actual workplace usage rather than assumptions. As occupancy costs continue to rise and workplace models become more flexible, companies will have less room to absorb inefficiencies or continue making decisions based on historical patterns.

As a result, digital tools for workplace planning, scenario modelling, and space optimization will become an integral part of the decision-making process, much like financial and HR systems today. Platforms such as iO4Workplace are not just technology solutions, they enable companies to better understand their workplace needs, manage costs more effectively, and make stronger long-term decisions.

Office space will no longer be viewed simply as a fixed cost, but as a strategic asset that directly influences business performance, employee experience, and the ability to support future growth.