How Much Office Space per Employee? A Practical Guide for Companies in Saudi Arabia

How Much Office Space per Employee? A Practical Guide for Companies in Saudi Arabia

“How many square metres do we need per employee?” Every manager looking for new premises or planning an expansion asks this question. The answer is not a single fixed number, because the space you need depends on the type of work, the ratio of open to enclosed offices, the number of meeting rooms, attendance patterns, storage and support areas. In this guide we explain in practical terms how to calculate office space per employee, the common planning ranges, and how to avoid mistakes that make an office either crowded or a waste of rent.

Why accurate space calculation matters

Rent in central districts of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam is a major line in any company budget, and every unnecessary square metre is a recurring annual cost. On the other hand, a cramped office creates crowding, noise and a shortage of meeting rooms, and forces the company to look for new premises before its lease ends. Calculating carefully before signing a lease or starting design protects you from both mistakes.

Gross area vs. net usable area

Before any calculation, distinguish between two kinds of area. Gross area is what the lease usually states and may include a share of the building’s common areas. Net usable area is the actual space inside your office after columns, walls and technical zones are excluded. The difference can be significant, so measure the net area or ask for an accurate plan before you start.

Common planning ranges

Standards vary between countries and companies, but designers use common ranges as a starting point. The figures below are indicative only and are adjusted for each project; they do not replace studying the actual plan and complying with the Saudi Building Code and Civil Defense requirements.

A step-by-step method

Step 1: Count employees by category

Split staff into categories: senior management needing enclosed offices, department managers who may need enclosed or semi-open offices, staff at open workstations, and field staff who come in occasionally. This breakdown is the basis of the whole calculation.

Step 2: Establish actual attendance

If your company works hybrid or has field teams, you may not need a desk for every employee. Measure actual attendance over several weeks and size desks for peak days, not the average. See hybrid office design.

Step 3: Calculate individual work areas

Multiply the number of workstations by the indicative area for each type and add enclosed offices. Desk size matters a lot: an L-shaped desk needs more space than a linear one. See the types on our office workstations page.

Step 4: Add meeting and collaboration space

Size meeting rooms based on how many meetings take place each day and their usual size, not headcount alone. Add phone booths, focus rooms and informal collaboration areas.

Step 5: Add support spaces

Reception and waiting, pantry or breakout area, server room, print room, archive rooms, a prayer room, and washrooms if they are not part of the building’s common areas.

Step 6: Add circulation

Walkways and the space between zones take a meaningful share of the area, usually estimated by designers as a percentage of net area that varies with building shape and column grid. Main walkways must allow two people to pass comfortably and meet evacuation, Civil Defense and accessibility requirements.

Step 7: Add a growth margin

If you expect headcount to grow during the lease, add a suitable margin or choose a layout that allows extra desks without rebuilding. This is where modular furniture pays off.

A simplified example

Consider a company with 60 employees: 4 senior managers, 8 department managers and 48 office staff, with peak-day attendance among office staff close to 90%. It might need 4 executive offices, 8 manager offices or semi-enclosed areas, around 44 open workstations, one large meeting room, two small rooms, three phone booths, reception, a breakout area and an archive and server room.

Adding these elements using the indicative ranges, plus circulation and a growth margin, gives an approximate area range that can be compared against available premises. Most importantly, this calculation then becomes a real plan that tests whether the space truly works with the building’s columns and windows.

Factors that increase the space you need

• More enclosed offices instead of open workstations.
• Departments that receive clients or visitors inside the office.
• A large paper archive.
• Special equipment such as large-format printers.
• An irregular building shape or many columns.
• Privacy and security needs in finance and government.

Factors that reduce the space you need

• Hybrid work and shared desks.
• Digitisation and less paper.
• Glass partitions instead of solid walls for more efficient layouts.
• Made-to-measure workstations instead of oversized stock desks.
• Wall storage that uses height instead of scattered cabinets.

How workstation sizes affect total area

Some managers think the difference between a 140 cm and a 160 cm desk is minor, but it multiplies across dozens of desks. In an office with 50 desks in face-to-face rows, adding 20 cm to each desk can consume space that could have held several extra desks or a small meeting room. That is why we size desks by role: an employee working on one screen with little paper does not need the same desk as an accountant using two screens and reviewing files daily.

Grouping also matters. Face-to-face desks share screens and services and save space compared with separate desks; cluster desks suit teams but may need more circulation around them; L-shaped desks offer more surface but take more floor area. The best answer is usually a mix by department.

Department adjacency

Space planning is not complete without deciding where each department sits relative to others. Client-facing teams such as sales and customer service are best near reception and meeting rooms; teams that need quiet, such as finance and analysis, sit further from circulation; and senior management needs a location that combines privacy with easy access. This affects corridor lengths and meeting room numbers, and therefore total area.

Walkways and safety

Walkways are not wasted space; they are essential to safety and comfort. Main walkways must let two people pass comfortably and allow furniture and equipment to be moved; secondary aisles between desk rows must let employees leave their desk without disturbing a colleague. Escape routes and their widths must comply with the Saudi Building Code and Civil Defense requirements, and must accommodate wheelchair users. Narrowing walkways to fit more desks raises noise and makes the office feel crowded even when headcount is reasonable.

How many meeting rooms do you need?

The number of rooms depends more on your meeting culture than on headcount. Start with a simple question: how many meetings happen each day, and how large are they? In many companies most meetings involve two to four people, yet offices are designed with one large room booked all day for small meetings. A practical solution is to split meeting space into rooms of different sizes: one large room for formal meetings and presentations, several small and medium rooms, and single phone booths. See training and conference room furniture.

Storage and archives

Storage is one of the most underestimated items, and the problem appears after the move as boxes in corridors and files on desks. Measure your paper archive in linear metres, decide what stays in departments and what moves to a central archive, and use height with wall cabinets instead of scattered low units. See office storage and filing.

Space in hybrid offices

With shared desks, workstations are calculated as a ratio to headcount rather than one per person. That ratio must be based on real peak-day attendance, not optimistic estimates. The space saved should be reinvested in meeting rooms, collaboration areas and personal lockers, or employees will feel the office has become less comfortable. A clear desk-booking system and lockers prevent shared desks from being claimed with personal belongings.

Space needs by type of business

Call centres and customer service

Dense, closely spaced desks with high screens mean less area per employee than average, but generous breakout space is needed because shifts are long and pressure is high. See call centre furniture.

Engineering and design offices

Larger desks for two or more screens, plan tables and space for material samples push area per employee above average.

Government and service entities

Reception and waiting areas for visitors, more enclosed offices for officials and often a larger paper archive. See government office furniture.

Law and consulting firms

Enclosed offices for privacy and client meeting rooms raise area per employee compared with open offices.

Windows, columns and air-conditioning

A theoretical calculation may say the space fits fifty desks, but the real plan may fit fewer because of columns, window positions and air-conditioning vents. Columns break desk rows, sun-facing windows can make nearby seats uncomfortable, and vents directly above desks cause constant complaints. That is why we always turn the calculation into a real plan before the final decision; the plan reveals dead corners and spaces suitable for phone booths or storage.

Planning for growth

Imagine a company starting with forty employees on a three-year lease and expecting seventy by the end. It can lease space for seventy from day one and pay for empty space, lease for forty and move later at extra cost, or choose a middle option sized for fifty to fifty-five people with a flexible design that raises capacity when needed. The third option is usually smartest if it is planned from the start with modular desks, collaboration areas that can become workstations and adjustable partitions.

Questions to ask before signing a lease

• What is the actual net usable area?
• How many columns are there and where?
• What are the ceiling height, AC vents and power points?
• Do windows face a direction that causes heat or glare?
• Are washrooms and pantry inside the space or shared?
• Does the building allow changes to partitions and ceilings?
• Is there room to expand on the same floor later?

Support and breakout spaces

The pantry, breakout area, prayer room, print room and server room are indispensable, yet their area is often forgotten in initial estimates. The breakout area in particular has become more important, used for informal meetings and short breaks, and it can be designed to double as a collaboration space at certain times. In large offices, spreading service points such as printers and water across several locations reduces long walks across the floor and the noise they create.

Acoustic and visual comfort are part of the calculation

Space per employee is not only about square metres but about how comfortable people feel. Two desks close together without a screen in a busy office create disturbance even if the area is theoretically sufficient. We therefore include screens, distances between facing rows and the separation of call-heavy teams from focus teams in the calculation. Read open office acoustics and the office ergonomics guide.

From calculation to floor plan

Once data is collected, the designer draws several layout scenarios: one with the maximum number of desks, a balanced one that adds rooms and collaboration zones, and one that allows for future growth. The scenarios are compared on desk count, rooms, ease of movement and cost, and management chooses the best fit. This turns the space decision from guesswork into a clear comparison based on numbers and drawings.

What to send your design company

• A clear floor plan with dimensions, columns and windows.
• Current headcount per department and expected headcount in three years.
• The enclosed offices required and who uses them.
• Attendance model: full-time, hybrid or field teams.
• Typical meeting frequency and size, and whether clients visit.
• Archive volume and special equipment.
• Indicative budget and target move-in date.

With this information an initial layout can be prepared quickly and scenarios compared before any purchase or lease decision.

Measuring how well space is used after the move

Space planning does not end on move-in day. A few months later, check how often each meeting room is booked, how many desks are occupied on peak days, and whether collaboration areas are actually used. If small rooms are always full and the boardroom is empty, convert part of the large room or add booths. If many desks sit empty, consider shared desks and reinvest the space. Simple observation and a short staff survey are usually enough to reveal these patterns, and a modular layout lets you act on them without major works. Companies that review space use regularly tend to delay costly moves and get more value from every square metre they rent.

Common mistakes

1. Relying on gross lease area without measuring net area.
2. Counting desks only and forgetting rooms, storage and services.
3. Ignoring columns and windows.
4. No growth margin, so the office is full within a year.
5. Too much area per person without a functional reason.
6. Narrowing walkways to add desks.

How Elite Premier helps

We study your plan, headcount and departments, prepare an initial layout showing the desks, offices and rooms that fit, and provide a 3D preview through our office design service. After approval we manufacture workstations, partitions and storage to measure in our Jeddah factory. Send us your floor plan for an initial study.

Frequently asked questions

How many square metres does an employee need?

A common indicative range for total area is roughly 8–12 m² per employee, varying with the type of work and the share of enclosed offices.

Does every company need one desk per employee?

No. Companies working hybrid may need fewer desks than staff, based on actual attendance.

How big should a meeting room for ten be?

Roughly 2–2.5 m² per seat, more with screens and circulation around the table.

Can we fit more desks into our current office?

Often yes, by re-planning and using suitably sized desks. See office refurbishment.