on October 26, 2026
For years, the loudest question in office strategy was some version of "how do we spend less." That's no longer true, at least according to the people actually setting the strategy. A new read on where occupiers are putting their attention shows cost-cutting sliding toward the bottom of the list, while the people inside the building — not the square footage, not the budget line — have moved to the top.
What are companies' top workplace priorities right now?
According to CBRE's 2026 Americas Office Occupier Sentiment Survey — a survey of 97 U.S. companies conducted in Q2 2026 — the objectives topping the list aren't about spending less. They're about the people who show up.
Optimizing space utilization and efficiency ranks first, named by 74% of occupiers as a top strategy objective. Enhancing employee experience to attract and retain talent comes in close behind, at 62%. Driving in-person collaboration and innovation rounds out the top three, at 49%.
Reducing occupancy costs to reallocate capital elsewhere sits well below all three, at 41%. Improving sustainability and ESG performance ranks last of the seven objectives CBRE measured, at just 11%.
That's a real reordering. Cost and sustainability haven't disappeared from the list, but they're no longer what's driving the conversation. Experience and space are.
What actually gets employees back in the office?
The same survey asked a more specific question: what draws employees in, and what keeps them home? The answers point to a gap between what companies control and what they don't.
Colleague engagement was the strongest pull, cited by 77% of occupiers as what draws employees into the office. But two real frictions work against it. Inconvenient location was named by 62% of occupiers as something that keeps employees away, but that's largely outside the company's control. Lack of amenities definitely fall under the company's purview, and 53% of occupiers feel it's keeping employees away. Their perceptions give us valuable insight, as they're the group making budget decisions.
So is cost really off the table?
Not exactly — it's just being asked differently. The data doesn't say cost stopped mattering. It says cost stopped being the primary lens. Reducing occupancy costs still ranks fourth of seven measured objectives, which means it's real, just not what's setting the agenda anymore.
A more useful way to read it: cost is increasingly evaluated by what it produces, not by how small it is. An amenity that's cheap but ignored isn't actually saving money — it's occupying space, budget, and attention while doing nothing for the two things now ranked ahead of cost: experience and space efficiency. The better question isn't "how do we spend less," it's "is what we're already spending on actually working."
What this means for the breakroom
The breakroom sits at the exact intersection of the two things that moved to the top of this list. It's a small-footprint, high-frequency touchpoint for employee experience — and one of the few office aspects a company can actually act on. If 53% of occupiers already see amenities as a real barrier to getting people in the building, the breakroom isn't a nice-to-have line item. It's one of the more direct levers available for the priority companies say now matters most.
This is exactly the gap LAViT was built to close. One countertop system speaks directly to the space-utilization priority now ranked highest of all seven. It pours real, recognizable brands at the push of a button, rather than asking employees to settle for whatever's left in a fridge, which is an actual improvement to "employee experience". And because it's one shared machine, it becomes one of the recurring reasons colleagues end up in the same room together — the exact behavior 77% of occupiers named as what draws people into the office in the first place.
Source: CBRE, 2026 Americas Office Occupier Sentiment Survey, July 30, 2026 (n = 97 U.S. companies).