flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Study: 85% of employees dissatisfied with their office environment

Study: 85% of employees dissatisfied with their office environment

A vast majority of office workers feel open floor plans cause multiple distractions and that more private spaces are needed in today's offices, according to a new study by Steelcase and research firm IPSOS.


By BD+C Staff | November 25, 2014
Open plan office space, Steelcase, Gensler, Deezen
Image: Wikimedia Commons

A new study of 10,500 office workers in Europe, North America, and Asia found that more than half of employees prefer to have a private workspace versus an open place office, Deezen reports.  

 

 

ew research shows that 

 

Workers have said that open office floor plans cause multiple distractions, which leads to employees being unproductive during the day.

Office furniture specialists, Steelcase, and research company, IPSOS, found that insufficient privacy in the workplace was a worldwide problem. The survey they conducted said that out of 10,500 workers in Europe, North America and Asia more than 85 percent of employees were dissatisfied with their office environment and had difficulties concentrating.

Due to the lack of concentration throughout the day, survey respondents were losing 86 minutes per day to distractions, and 31 percent reported that they had to leave their offices to complete work due to a lack of private space.

Reportings also state that disengagement in the workplace is not only wasting time, but money. The current estimate for loss of productivity is said to be up to $550 billion in American companies and up to £70 billion a year in UK companies.

Those who had more privacy (11 percent of respondents) were more satisfied in their office environment and were therefore more engaged.

An architecture firm, Gensler, reported finding about a workplace survey they conducted saying that new office technologies and open-plan offices were damaging the performance of employees.

In just five years, workplace effectiveness has fallen in the U.S. by six percent.

For more information, visit www.dezeen.com.

Related Stories

| Mar 11, 2011

Blockbuster remodel transforms Omaha video store into a bank

A former Hollywood Video store in Omaha, Neb., was renovated and repurposed as the SAC Federal Credit Union, Ames Branch. Architects at Leo A Daly transformed the outdated 5,000-sf retail space into a modern facility by wrapping the exterior in poplar siding and adding a new glass storefront that floods the interior with natural light.

| Mar 11, 2011

Historic McKim Mead White facility restored at Columbia University

Faculty House, a 1923 McKim Mead White building on Columbia University’s East Campus, could no longer support the school’s needs, so the historic 38,000-sf building was transformed into a modern faculty dining room, graduate student meeting center, and event space for visiting lecturers, large banquets, and alumni organizations.

| Mar 11, 2011

Mixed-income retirement community in Maryland based on holistic care

The Green House Residences at Stadium Place in Waverly, Md., is a five-story, 40,600-sf, mixed-income retirement community based on a holistic continuum of care concept developed by Dr. Bill Thomas. Each of the four residential floors houses a self-contained home for 12 residents that includes 12 bedrooms/baths organized around a common living/social area called the “hearth,” which includes a kitchen, living room with fireplace, and dining area.

| Mar 11, 2011

Oregon childhood center designed at child-friendly scale

Design of the Early Childhood Center at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore., focused on a achieving a child-friendly scale and providing outdoor learning environments.

| Mar 11, 2011

Guests can check out hotel’s urban loft design, music selection

MODO, Advaya Hospitality’s affordable new lifestyle hotel brand, will have an urban Bauhaus loft design and target design-, music-, and tech-savvy guest who will have access to thousands of tracks in vinyl, CD, and MP3 formats through a partnership with Downtown Music. Guest can create their own playlists, and each guest room will feature iPod docks and large flat-screen TVs.

| Mar 11, 2011

Construction of helicopter hangars in South Carolina gets off the ground

Construction is under way on a $26 million aviation support facility for South Carolina National Guard helicopters. Hendrick Construction, the project’s Charlotte, N.C.-based GC, is building the 111,000-sf Donaldson Hangar facility on the 30-acre South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center, Greenville.

| Mar 11, 2011

Texas A&M mixed-use community will focus on green living

HOK, Realty Appreciation, and Texas A&M University are working on the Urban Living Laboratory, a 1.2-million-sf mixed-use project owned by the university. The five-phase, live-work-play project will include offices, retail, multifamily apartments, and two hotels.

| Mar 11, 2011

Chicago office building will serve tenants and historic church

The Alter Group is partnering with White Oak Realty Partners to develop a 490,000-sf high-performance office building in Chicago’s West Loop. The tower will be located on land owned by Old St. Patrick’s Church (a neighborhood landmark that survived the Chicago Fire of 1871) that’s currently being used as a parking lot.

| Mar 11, 2011

Community sports center in Nashville features NCAA-grade training facility

A multisport community facility in Nashville featuring a training facility that will meet NCAA Division I standards is being constructed by St. Louis-based Clayco and Chicago-based Pinnacle.

| Mar 11, 2011

Slam dunk for the University of Nebraska’s basketball arena

The University of Nebraska men’s and women’s basketball programs will have a new home beginning in 2013. Designed by the DLR Group, the $344 million West Haymarket Civic Arena in Lincoln, Neb., will have 16,000 seats, suites, club amenities, loge, dedicated locker rooms, training rooms, and support space for game operations.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category




MFPRO+ Special Reports

Top 10 trends in affordable housing

Among affordable housing developers today, there’s one commonality tying projects together: uncertainty. AEC firms share their latest insights and philosophies on the future of affordable housing in BD+C's 2023 Multifamily Annual Report.

halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021