Rethinking Office Perks: What Actually Makes an Office Worth Coming Into?

For years, office perks meant free lunches, pool tables, coffee machines and, for some reason, an impressive number of beer fridges.

Nice? Yes.

The reason someone gets on a train at 7:30am? Probably not.

In 2026, the office is competing with much more than the office down the road. It is competing with home, coworking spaces, cafés and anywhere else people can reasonably get their work done.

So perhaps it is time to rethink what an office perk actually is.

The best workplace perks are increasingly the things that make work easier, more comfortable and more worthwhile.

And sometimes, the biggest perk is simply a really good office.

What do employees actually want from the office?

There is no single answer.

Some people want somewhere quiet to concentrate. Others come in specifically to see their team. Some need better technology than they have at home, while others simply want a comfortable environment where they can work without interruption.

That is why designing around a list of fashionable amenities rarely works.

Employee surveys are useful, but they should be considered alongside how people actually use the workplace. Our article on what employees say they want versus what their behaviour tells us explores this in more detail.

The aim isn't to cram in more perks. It is to understand what makes being in the office valuable.

1. Somewhere you can actually get work done

Possibly the least glamorous office perk. Possibly the most important.

People need somewhere they can concentrate, take a confidential call, join a Teams meeting, collaborate with colleagues and sit comfortably for a few hours.

That sounds obvious.

Yet plenty of workplaces still have beautiful social areas alongside permanently booked meeting rooms, nowhere quiet to take a call and an ongoing battle for the one decent focus space.

A good workplace supports the work people have actually come in to do. That means getting the basics right before adding the nice-to-haves.

2. Choice — but not endless choice

One person’s perfect focus space is another person’s distraction.

Sometimes you need a desk. Sometimes you need a meeting room. Sometimes you need a sofa, a phone booth or ten minutes somewhere away from everyone else.

Modern workplaces need variety.

Not twenty different types of chair and a map to find them. Just enough choice for people to move between different types of work without fighting the building.

We explored this idea further in The Rise of the Comfort-led Workplace, where one of the clearest themes was that workplace comfort means different things to different people.

3. Comfort beats gimmicks

We have nothing against a slide. We just probably wouldn't install one before fixing the acoustics.

When people talk about workplace experience, the most important elements are often the least Instagrammable:

Good lighting.

Comfortable temperatures.

Fresh air.

Acoustic control.

Ergonomic furniture.

Spaces that are easy to understand and easy to use.

These things do not always look like perks, but they affect people every hour they are in the building.

This is something we have also explored on our Designed to Work podcast.

In our conversation with AirRated CEO Francesca Brady, we discussed how indoor air quality, healthy buildings and long-term performance can have a far greater impact on people than the features they immediately notice when they walk through the door.

Sometimes the best-designed workplace features are the ones you barely notice. They just work.

4. People are still one of the biggest reasons to come in

The office has one major advantage over working from the spare bedroom.

Other people are there.

People come into workplaces to solve problems, learn, collaborate, meet clients, catch up and feel part of something bigger than their inbox.

And that role may become even more important as technology becomes more embedded in our working lives.

On Designed to Work, Lewis Barker, Director of Workplace Services and Real Estate at ServiceNow, discussed why workplaces increasingly need to provide genuine value rather than relying on employees simply being expected to attend. He also highlighted the growing importance of physical workplaces as places for human connection.

That changes the design question. Instead of asking: “How do we get people back into the office?”

Ask: “What becomes better when people are here together?” Then design around that.

5. Less friction might be the best perk of all

Can I find a room? Will the screen connect? Where can I take this call? Is there somewhere quiet? Where am I supposed to sit? Why is it freezing?

If people spend half their day solving problems created by the workplace, the free coffee is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

One of the recurring themes throughout Designed to Work has been the importance of removing unnecessary friction.

In Episode 1, Mike Walley shared an example of employees who continued holding an informal meeting at their desks even though meeting rooms had been provided elsewhere in the building.

Why?

Because it was easier.

People generally follow the path of least resistance. Great workplaces recognise that rather than expecting employees to completely change the way they naturally work.

The technology, layout and spaces should help people get on with their day without having to think too much about how the office works.

6. A workplace that actually feels like your business

A good workplace should not feel as though it could belong to any company. That does not mean covering every wall in logos.

It means creating an environment that reflects how your organisation works, how people interact and what the business values.

Your workplace can influence how teams come together, how clients experience the organisation and how easily new employees understand the culture.

But culture cannot simply be installed alongside the carpet tiles. It has to be designed for.

We explore that further in You Can't Design Culture, But You Can Design For It.

So, are office perks still important?

Yes. But the definition has changed.

Employees may still appreciate good coffee, food, gyms and social amenities. There is nothing wrong with any of those things.

They just shouldn't compensate for a workplace that makes everyday work harder.

In 2026, the most valuable office perks are often much simpler:

A quiet room when you need one.

Technology that works.

Comfortable spaces.

Good air.

People you actually want to see.

A workplace that helps you do something better than you could have done at home. That is a much harder thing to put on a recruitment brochure. It is also much more valuable.

What makes an office worth commuting to?

An office becomes worth travelling to when it offers something employees cannot easily replicate elsewhere.

That may be better collaboration, specialist facilities, stronger social connection, greater focus, access to leaders or simply a more comfortable environment for particular types of work.

There isn't one feature that creates that value.

The strongest workplaces combine choice, comfort, connection and ease of use, based on how the organisation and its people actually work.

Which is why the conversation should probably move beyond perks altogether.

Maybe the best office perk is simply a really good office

One that makes it easier to work. Easier to connect. Easier to concentrate. And easier to feel part of the business. Free coffee is still welcome, obviously.

Hear more on Designed to Work

These are exactly the kinds of questions we explore on Designed to Work, Habit Action's podcast about what makes workplaces actually work.

From employee experience and workplace technology to culture, air quality, behaviour and the future of the office, we speak to the people making the decisions and challenging some of the assumptions the industry has carried for years.

Explore Designed to Work →