Many organisations don't need as much floor space or as many desks, given that many staff now do a mix of hybrid work from home and the office. But on days when more staff are required to be in, office spaces can feel noticeably busier and noisier. Despite so much focus on getting workers back into offices, there has been far less focus on the impacts of returning to open-plan workspaces.
But on days when more staff are required to be in, office spaces can feel noticeably busier and noisier. Despite so much focus on getting workers back into offices, there has been far less focus on the impacts of returning to open-plan workspaces. Now, more research confirms what many suspected: our brains have to work harder in open-plan spaces than in private offices.
Since the pandemic, offices around the world have quietly shrunk. Many organisations don't need as much floor space or as many desks, given many staff now do a mix of hybrid work from home and the office. But on days when more staff are required to be in, office spaces can feel noticeably busier and noisier. Despite so much focus on getting workers back into offices, there has been far less focus on the impacts of returning to open-plan workspaces.
For their study, researchers surveyed over 1200 senior executives and non-executive employees about their workplace arrangements. While 53 percent of employees reported feeling less satisfied and less productive when they had to work through ambient noise, only 35 percent of executives felt the same way. The disconnect between the perceptions of management and the people they employ was evident in other areas as well.