Signal File: how extreme heats tests commuting to its limits
From heatwave disruption in Europe to the economics of place, this week's signals show how the physical location of work is reasserting itself as a strategic question
This week’s workplace signals put ‘place’ at the centre of debate. But it’s not a debate about whether the office matters, it focuses on a more complex question about which places matter, how they perform under pressure, and what it costs to get them right.
In a week that has seen Europe’s hottest temperatures on record, the conversation is heating up around the location, quality and physical experiences of the places we work in.
The heatwave stress-tests the return to office
New research cited by the Facilities Management Forum finds that more than 40% of employees already struggle to perform tasks when their workplace gets uncomfortably hot, costing the UK economy an estimated £1.2 billion in lost output every year. With return-to-office pressure mounting, that exposure is growing.
The current red heat warning in the UK, with temperatures forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius across parts of England and Wales, means that employees not only have to work in uncomfortable heat, but they also have to commute in it. For the 44% of UK workers still commuting daily, the heatwave is not just a comfort issue. It concerns productivity and safety.
In action: As heatwaves become more frequent, organisations will need formal heat policies, flexible hours and building readiness plans ahead of the season.
RTO mandates bend to the commute
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, two of the most vocal advocates of the return to office mandates, have quietly allowed employees to work remotely on World Cup match days this week after transit disruption across New York and New Jersey made commuting impractical for many workers. The story illustrates a broader reality of what determines attendance is not policy language but physical friction. Required office time rose by 12% between 2024 and 2025, yet actual attendance increased by only 1 to 3%, suggesting that mandates consistently outrun the willingness and ability of workers to comply.
In action: The organisations seeing the strongest attendance are those making the in-office experience worth the journey, and ensuring the journey is realistic.
London’s place in the global economy depends on place itself
A new report from PwC published in June 2026 argues that London could generate an additional £76 billion a year for the UK economy by 2030 if productivity in its frontier industries is properly accelerated. These industries include finance, technology, and science and research. Benchmarked against 11 global peer cities, the report finds London remains one of the strongest locations in the world for developing high-productivity industries, precisely because of its concentration of skilled workers, access to capital, established technology clusters and institutional stability. The findings are a reminder that the cluster effect depends on physical proximity.
In action: Organisations making location decisions should consider the broader economic ecosystem they are joining, not only the building they are moving into.
‘Jewel-box’ buildings are on the rise
Class A office buildings in major markets are now close to fully occupied, while new office construction is at its lowest level in more than three decades, according to CNBC’s commercial real estate outlook. Less than 7 million square feet of new office space will be delivered this year, the lowest since the global financial crisis, intensifying competition for what the market is calling jewel-box buildings, top-tier, highly amenitised properties in prime locations. The gap between what occupiers want and what secondary stock can offer is widening sharply.
In action: Organisations holding onto secondary space face growing pressure to upgrade or consolidate as the gap between prime and non-prime widens.
Location is now measured by friction, not prestige
New data from Placer.ai analysed by Commercial Property Executive shows that office attendance is now seasonally concentrated in warmer months, with the first and fourth quarters of the year consistently underperforming since 2024. Commute ease correlates directly with attendance, particularly early in the week. The data also shows that visits from employees travelling less than five miles to work have increased steadily since 2019. Location decisions that once prioritised prestige addresses are now being evaluated through the lens of how difficult the journey is for the people expected to make it.
In action: Proximity to where workers live is now a measurable driver of attendance and, by extension, space utilisation.
