I spent 5 years in the UK office refurbishments industry, after almost half a decade in procurement and project management for brands like Jaguar Land Rover. One of the most exciting parts of that journey was working alongside experienced designers to reimagine modern offices for UK Government departments.
Before Covid, most UK offices were designed with around 80% desks for headcount, about 10% for collaboration booths/pods, and plenty of meeting rooms. But after the pandemic reshaped ways of working, this flipped. Suddenly, desks dropped to about 50%, while collaboration spaces grew dramatically, and meeting room usage fell - replaced by semi-private options like pods where people could connect online/offline without disruption
Traditional offices with rows of desks and pedestal storage for individual staff
Why? Because people weren’t coming into the office just to sit at a desk anymore. They wanted to connect, collaborate, brainstorm, or simply find a quiet pod for an online call. Interestingly, very few offices even had private manager cabins - hierarchy gave way to flexibility.
When I worked in India earlier, most workplaces prioritized fitting in as many people as possible. Ergonomics and employee experience were often secondary.
Now, a decade later and back in India, I do see large organizations shifting - incorporating a mix of focus spaces, pods, collaborative areas, and vibrant cafeterias. But with SMEs, not much has changed. The default is still “maximum seats per square foot.” The real opportunity, I think, is showing how agile workplace design - shared desks, modular pods, open-plan collaboration - can actually improve efficiency and the employee experience at the same time
It often takes deeper conversations to ask:
- Does every employee really need a dedicated desk every day? Can resources be shared more effectively?
- Could collaboration pods, focus pods, and open-plan seating bring more value to employees and the business than rows of desks?
For those of you designing workplaces in India today - do you think SMEs will begin adopting agile workplace design, or will maximizing headcount remain the top priority for years to come?
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