Aberdeen City Council's Marischal College HQ is only about half full, but bosses have vowed not to pressure staff back into the office.
The local authority's Broad Street base has space for 1,150 workers, but hundreds of desks are sitting empty every day.
Following a crunch summit on the future of Union Street last week called by Aberdeen Inspired and Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, calls were made for the city's biggest employer to boost trade by encouraging a mass return.
A business leader told the Press and Journal that such a move could improve footfall - and result in vacant units being snapped up.
The newspaper has revealed that recent figures suggest between 500 and 650 workers are regularly operating from Marischal College.
But top brass have offered assurances that number is "generally rising".
Granite building
Marischal College, the world's second-biggest granite building, is capable of hosting 1,300 staff.
Since the police and Scottish Enterprise began to share the complex last year, they have been using 150 of those spaces.
Steve Whyte, the authority's resources director, confirmed that the council is "monitoring" what other city centre offices are doing.
He added: "We have always offered the hybrid option, but obviously the pandemic has made people understand what that looks and feels like.
"It has made a big difference to the number of people in Marischal College."
And the body's corporate landlord Steve Booth explained that numbers got as low as 200-250 when only essential workers came in at the height of Covid.
More flexibility
He added: "Smarter working and hybrid is not new for the council, albeit we are going through a period of test and trial of more flexibility at the moment.
Our average is about 500 just now, some days peaking at about 600 or 650. It is a generally rising figure as well."
Since the pandemic resulted in record low numbers of people going to work, more and more people have been returning to their old routines.
A business owner who attended the Union Street summit told the P&J that "getting everybody back into the office" would help the city centre bounce back.
And a local surveyor said such action from the council "would have a hugely positive effect on the surrounding area".
He added: "It could literally bring back hundreds of people a day, who could make a difference just by grabbing a coffee or a sandwich. Every little helps."
A council spokeswoman stressed that, as a "flexible employer", the authority offered a "range of working styles, which includes part-time and hybrid working".
Aberdeen City Council employs 8,000 staff across sites like depots, primary schools, community centres and libraries.