Swiss Office Market Defies Remote Work Shift as Vacancy Rates Hit New Lows
Published on 09/04/2026 at 04:03 | Editorial boerse-global.de
The numbers tell a surprising story about the future of the workplace. Even as Swiss employees spend twice as much time working from home as they did before the pandemic, the country's office vacancy rate has fallen sharply — a sign that demand for physical workspace remains far stronger than many predicted.
New research from Raiffeisen, released on 3 September 2026, shows available office space across Switzerland has contracted dramatically. Supply now sits roughly 25 percent below pre-pandemic levels, a finding that runs counter to widespread expectations that remote work would trigger an office glut.
From Peak Vacancy to Market Tightening
The vacancy rate has dropped from 9.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 7.5 percent today. That decline matters because it happened during a period of profound change in how Swiss professionals structure their workdays.
Home office adoption has surged since 2020, when roughly 20 percent of working hours were performed remotely. That share has since doubled to 40 percent. Yet despite this seismic shift in work habits, landlords are finding tenants more easily than they did before COVID-19 struck — a dynamic the Raiffeisen economists attribute to constrained supply rather than surging demand.
Artificial Intelligence Looms Over Future Space Needs
The immediate picture looks healthy, but the research points to significant disruption ahead. Two-thirds of office-sector employees already feel the effects of artificial intelligence on their daily work, according to the study. That technological wave is expected to reshape how much space companies actually need.
Raiffeisen's projections for the next five years show demand for office floorspace declining by somewhere between 1.6 percent and 7.9 percent. Look further out to 2031, however, and the range of possible outcomes widens dramatically — from a 14 percent increase in demand to a 22 percent collapse. The bank's moderate scenario envisions a slight 1.6 percent contraction by the early 2030s.
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Regional Hotspots Face the Brunt of Change
The impact of AI-driven transformation will not be spread evenly across the country. Raiffeisen identifies Zurich, Geneva, Zug and the canton of Ticino as the areas most exposed to technology-driven shifts in office requirements. These economic hubs, with their dense concentration of desk-based service industries, are likely to see the fastest adjustment in floorspace needs.
For property investors, the evolving landscape introduces fresh complications. Buy-to-let strategies, in particular, are becoming harder to execute, the bank warns. Evaluating returns now demands a deeper reckoning with how automation and flexible working arrangements will reshape tenant demand over the long term — a calculation that grows more uncertain with each passing year.
