How to integrate flexibility into the budget
2026 will be a pivotal year for companies rethinking how they work.
The hybrid model is no longer a transition phase, and flexibility is no longer a side benefit: it has become a structural component of work organization, directly impacting costs, spaces, processes, and financial planning.
Over the past two years, many companies have tested hybrid solutions without fully integrating them into their budgets—on-demand coworking, one-off equipment approvals, and remote work policies applied with broad, often unmeasured margins. The question now is how to integrate all of this into an annual budget with clear logic, coherent cost items, and measurable KPIs.
1. Define the 2026 work model
The starting point is very simple:
- how many average remote working days are expected for each role;
- how many people will use coworking spaces or “third places”;
- what the impact will be on offices, workstations, meeting rooms, and digital equipment.
From this, everything else follows: required square meters, future lease costs, the actual number of workstations, the share of shared desks, and the volume of external services to be planned.
2. Create (or relabel) the right budget items
For many companies, the issue is not so much about “new costs” as it is about making visible what already exists, often spread across different budget lines.
The three main categories to include in 2026 are:
A. Physical spaces and coworking
Office downsizing, updated lease costs, utilities, cleaning, and maintenance based on the new average occupancy. On the other hand, a coworking budget with clear criteria:
- fees per workstation or hourly packages,
- estimated users × days per year × average rate,
- “on-demand” spaces for peak attendance or distributed teams.
B. Technologies for flexible work
Collaboration software, videoconferencing, project management tools, digital signatures, and systems for managing remote attendance. This also includes booking and analytics platforms, which are essential for optimizing office space and coworking contracts.
C. HR, welfare, and people costs
Training on hybrid work and distributed leadership, contributions for home office and coworking, flexibility-oriented welfare programs, and change management activities to support the new model.
4. Estimate, monitor, and adjust
2026 can be considered the first “steady-state” year of the new work model.
To make it work, three elements are required:
Clear inputs
Internal data on 2024–25 attendance, meeting room usage, business travel, overtime, and team preferences.
Measurable KPIs
- total space cost per person (office + coworking);
- workstation utilization rate at headquarters;
- savings on offices, travel, and turnover;
- month-by-month tracking of the coworking budget.
An adjustment fund
A contingency fund of 5–10% is more than enough to manage unexpected peaks, new digital tools, or regulatory updates related to remote work.
With distributed solutions like NOTONLYDESK, it’s easy to offer professional, nearby, and flexible workspaces that support both sustainability goals and team wellbeing.
3. Shift from fixed to variable costs
One of the most compelling advantages of the hybrid model is the ability to shift part of costs from fixed to variable. In other words: paying for what you need, when you need it. For example:
- core offices → fixed cost, reducible in the medium term;
- coworking → 100% variable, with monthly or quarterly adjustments;
- software → fixed per-user fee, reviewed annually;
- home office contributions → defined allowance, adjustable by role;
- training and change management → one-off costs, concentrated in 2025–26.
The result is a more flexible budget that better reflects how people actually work.
3. Shift from fixed to variable costs
One of the most compelling advantages of the hybrid model is the ability to shift part of costs from fixed to variable. In other words: paying for what you need, when you need it. For example:
- core offices → fixed cost, reducible in the medium term;
- coworking → 100% variable, with monthly or quarterly adjustments;
- software → fixed per-user fee, reviewed annually;
- home office contributions → defined allowance, adjustable by role;
- training and change management → one-off costs, concentrated in 2025–26.
The result is a more flexible budget that better reflects how people actually work.
