Working from Home: How Our Living Spaces Are Changing in the Long Term

A recent study by the Complexity Science Hub, led by economist Fabian Braesemann, has shown that living behavior in Vienna has sustainably changed since the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated rise of home office. The analysis was based on 120,000 apartment listings on the platform willhaben.at.

Study on Living Behavior in Vienna

The most important result: Features relevant for working from home – such as more rooms, balconies or terraces, additional bathrooms, or parking spaces – have been in significantly higher demand since the pandemic. In contrast, classic drivers like city center location or proximity to public transport have lost importance.

According to Fonds Professionell, these changes are also reflected in rental prices: While rents in the inner districts (1–9) have increased by around 9% since 2018, they have risen by about 15% in the outer districts (10–17, 20–23). In particularly green and affluent outer city districts like Hietzing, Währing, or Döbling, rents have increased much more slowly, at only 3.2%.

The study authors see this as a long-term shift that also has urban planning consequences. To meet the new hybrid work realities, more suitable living space is needed in the outer districts, as well as better infrastructure such as local supply, mobility options, and leisure opportunities outside the classic commuter routes.

Studies on the Flexible Working World in Austria

A recent Deloitte study on the flexible working world shows: The momentum that the home office gained during the pandemic has noticeably decreased in the years since. In 2022, 90% of the surveyed companies still offered at least half of their employees the opportunity to work from home. Two years later, in 2024, this proportion has dropped to 73%. The decline is even more pronounced in actual usage: While around 82% of employees regularly worked from home in 2022, currently only 65% do so. This corresponds to a decrease of 17 percentage points – a clear sign that the initial enthusiasm for remote work has now significantly waned.

A survey by meinbezirk.at also confirms this decline and points out that some companies are even demanding a complete return to the office. Nevertheless, home office remains a central concern for many employees, which is considered when searching for housing.

New Telework Law in Effect Since 2025

Politics has responded to this change: On January 1, 2025, a new telework law came into effect in Austria. This allows not only working from home but also from other places like coworking spaces or even cafés. A clear contractual agreement with the employer is crucial. The Chamber of Labor, the Economic Chamber and also the ÖGB have already created comprehensive information offerings on the new framework conditions.

This transformation affects not only apartments but also office buildings. Companies are questioning their space usage and switching to new concepts – fewer individual workstations, but more meeting and community zones. According to a study by the ifo Institute, desk sharing is now standard in many companies. The retreat to the home office is to be complemented by targeted meeting spaces in the office to promote collaboration.

Classic Separation of Work and Living Becomes More Permeable

What remains is a hybrid picture: Living space must be able to combine both private life and professional use in the future. The classic separation of work and living becomes more permeable. This increases the demands on architecture, floor plan design, and infrastructure. This development is already being incorporated into new housing projects – with multifunctional spaces, community offices in residential buildings, or acoustically optimized retreats.

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