Employers Are Firming Up Office Days. Be Clear About Yours Before You Hire.

Office attendance in New Zealand has risen to an average of 3.6 days a week, according to CBRE's 2026 New Zealand Office Occupier Sentiment Survey. That is up from 3.4 days last year and 3.3 the year before, and CBRE says it is the biggest increase in three years. Behind the average, the bigger story is that employers have stopped hoping people will come in and started setting rules. Three in four organisations (76 percent) now set hybrid requirements at an organisational level, up from 60 percent in 2025, and only 7 percent expect to keep using attendance guidelines that nobody enforces.

For hiring managers in IT, finance, accounting, risk and corporate teams, that shift is about to show up in recruitment. If your expectations have firmed up, the candidates you interview over the next few months need to hear about them early and clearly, and the people already in your team need the same honesty.

What the survey found

Three days in the office is still the most common pattern, at 49 percent, but CBRE found more people going in five days a week while four-day attendance has fallen. Actively enforced guidelines are now the most common approach at 40 percent, and a small number of organisations plan to link attendance directly to performance reviews or pay. Kirstin Cooper, an associate director of workplace consulting at CBRE, summed it up as the market moving "from asking to expecting".

The picture varies by city. Christchurch leads at 4.3 days a week, Wellington has risen to 3.4 days from 3.0 last year, and Auckland sits lowest of the main centres at 3.2 days. It is worth keeping in mind that the survey covers 67 organisations that lease office space, so it is a good read on what larger office employers are doing rather than a measure of the whole workforce.

Why it shows up in hiring now

After a long, cautious stretch, more firms are planning to add people. The ANZ Business Outlook released on 29 October had a net 17.4 percent of businesses expecting to increase staff, with every sector in positive territory and services at 19.7. The Reserve Bank, which held the OCR at 2.75 percent the day before, still described employment intentions as weak, so this is a gradual pickup rather than a rush. Even so, a gradual pickup is when experienced people start taking calls again.

In our conversations with experienced candidates, the number of office days is often one of the first things they ask about, alongside the salary. That is especially true in IT, where many people have worked with a lot of flexibility for years, and for anyone with a long commute or care responsibilities. Most are not asking to work from home full time. What they want is a straight answer they can plan around.

Where it tends to go wrong

The problems we see are rarely about the policy itself. They usually come from a gap between what was said and what happens. A job ad says "hybrid", which could mean one day in the office or four. One interviewer says the team is relaxed about it while the offer letter says three days, or the expectation changes a few weeks after someone starts. When that happens, a good hire can start looking again before they have finished settling in, and we often hear that story from candidates explaining why they want to leave a role after six months.

The fix is simple. Put the actual expectation in the job ad, say how many days and which ones are fixed, and make sure everyone on the interview panel gives the same answer. If you are open to some flexibility for the right person, say that too, and then put whatever you agree in writing in the offer.

Bringing your current team with you

If you are firming up expectations for people who were hired under looser arrangements, give them reasonable notice and explain the reason in terms of the work, such as collaboration, mentoring newer team members or time with clients. A change explained that way lands far better than one that arrives as a bare rule. If someone's working arrangements are written into their employment agreement, talk to an employment adviser before you change anything.

Staff also keep the right to ask for flexible working. Employment New Zealand's guidance is that you must consider each request in good faith and reply in writing within one month, and you can only decline on recognised business grounds, which you need to state and explain. A trial period is often a sensible middle ground, and it gives both sides a chance to see how it works in practice.

Make the office days worth the trip

People are far more willing to come in when the day is worth it. That usually means agreeing anchor days when the whole team is actually there, keeping focused solo work for home where it suits, and making sure the office has enough desks and meeting rooms on the busy days. CBRE found 31 percent of Auckland occupiers are already running at 80 percent utilisation or higher, so peak days can get crowded. Nobody wants to commute across Auckland to sit on video calls at a desk they had to hunt for.

What this means for hiring managers

Hybrid working is not going away, but it is settling into firmer expectations, and that is a reasonable thing for a business to want. The employers who hire and keep good people through the change will be the ones who are upfront about it from the first conversation, consistent across everyone involved in hiring, and clear about why the office days count. If your expectations differ from what candidates in your field are used to, it is far better to discover that at the first interview than after an offer has been accepted.

If you are hiring in IT, finance, accounting, risk or corporate and want a read on what experienced candidates will expect around flexibility, get in touch with the Find team.

Sources: CBRE, 2026 New Zealand Office Occupier Sentiment Survey (October 2026, 67 organisations); ANZ Business Outlook, October 2026 (29 October 2026); Reserve Bank of New Zealand, OCR decision (28 October 2026); Employment New Zealand, Responding to a flexible working request.