It was the best of times—at least in the last six months—it was, well, okay but not exciting. Call it a tale of two market reports.

VTS released its monthly Office Demand Index and said, “New demand for office space surged by 20 percent nationally in March, ending a five-month stretch of stagnation,” with “all but one core office markets [having seen] new demand for office space increase in March, in line with those markets’ specific seasonal trends.”

The current state of the company’s index—a measure of annual activity relative to a pre-pandemic average baseline figure interpreted as 100—is 66. That’s a year-over-year increase of 8.2% but still only two-thirds of what demand used to be. Compare it to March in either 2019 or 2019 and the current measure is only 60% of how things used to be.

But then there’s another view, this one from CBRE, which wrote that activity in gateway markets remained muted in March even as companies ramped up their searches for space. The company’s Tenants in the Market index “increased by 2 points to a pandemic-era high of 91 in March.” CBRE considers this index an “early indicator of leasing activity later in the year.”

Tours of U.S. office spaces spiked in March, rising 20% over February numbers and 8.2% compared to March 2021, according to the latest VTS Office Demand Index.

VTS tracks the number of unique in-person and virtual tours that prospective tenants take of office properties, which tend to be precursors of lease signings. The company's national index now stands at 66, up 11 points over the month before. Before the pandemic, in March 2020, the index stood at 102.

Lease terms are lengthening for U.S. offices amid signs that the market is continuing to recover, according to JLL’s new Office Outlook research for the first quarter of 2022. JLL found that average lease terms in the first quarter rose to 8.2 years, up 30 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2021. Lease deals 10 years or longer now account for 51 percent of all activity, the first time these transactions have comprised more than half of office leasing volume since the pandemic started.

JLL’s report indicates that new office supply continues to capture outsized demand. More than 20 percent of leasing in the first quarter of 2022 was in buildings delivered since 2015, even though these newer buildings represent just 12.8 percent of inventory. Older buildings (1970-1999) represent 60.4 percent of national inventory but captured 38.6 percent of leasing.

The number of employers who believe that an increase in homeworking and flexible working has increased their organisation’s productivity or efficiency has jumped significantly over the last year, according to new research from the CIPD. When asked in December 2020, a third (33 percent) of employers said homeworking had increased their organisation’s productivity or efficiency. However, when asked about increased home/hybrid working in October/November 2021, over two-fifths (41 percent) said these new ways of working had increased this.

At the same time, the number of employers that say the increase in home and hybrid working has had a negative impact on their organisation’s productivity has fallen. Under a fifth (18 percent) of employers say it has decreased productivity, compared to 23 percent who previously said the rise in homeworking had decreased productivity.

One key measurement that leaders are taking note of during this time is occupancy levels. According to Niki Fuchs, managing director of Office Space in Town, competitors within the industry are saying they are back to pre-pandemic desk levels.

Delivering digitally enabled buildings and spaces can unlock consistent experiences for supporting modern office real estate

In an attempt to energize their employees about the return to the workplace, more companies are bringing back a culinary staple that got put on pause during the worst of the pandemic.

The company ezCater, which provides corporate food solutions, reported that it has seen corporate lunch orders jump 61% since this January. The company ran a survey which revealed that 81% of business leaders believe offering free meals and snacks is the best way to incentivize workplace attendance. In the poll, 93% of bosses said more employees show up to the office on days when free food is served.

“Food at work motivates people to come to their workplace, enables and strengthens collaboration, and really brings a workplace to life,” said Stefania Mallett, cofounder and CEO of ezCater.