Study: 85% of employees dissatisfied with their office environment

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.

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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.

Boyd R. Zoccola is Chair and Chief Elected Officer of BOMA International. A BOMA member since 1994, he has served on the Executive, Finance, Investment, and Medical/Healthcare Facilities Committees. An Indiana Real Estate Principal Broker and a board member of the Real Estate Round Table, he is Executive Vice President of Hokanson Companies, Inc., of Indianapolis, and has been involved in the development of $600 million worth of real estate. On a volunteer basis, Zoccola was president of Horizon House and a board member of Girls, Inc. He holds a BA in biology from Indiana University.