Open-plan offices have become the norm in Europe, but employees are unhappy
14 November 2014
Read by 1843 persons
Working together isn't always easy. In Europe, sharing an office has become the norm, with less than a third of employees having an individual space, in favor of collective spaces like open-plan offices, a situation that is causing dissatisfaction, according to a study published on Tuesday, November 4.
According to this survey conducted by the CSA institute for Actineo, an observatory of the quality of life in the office, only 16% of Dutch people who work in an office have an individual office, 19% of British people, 25% of Spanish people, 30% of Swedes, 33% of French people and 36% of Germans.
British champions of open-plan offices
The study specifies that 73% of British people work in a shared office, 71% of Spanish people, 66% of Dutch people, 55% of French and Spanish people and 49% of Swedes. Some employees simply do not have a designated office (from 4% in Spain to 21% in Sweden).
In terms of open-plan offices, defined as offices with more than four people, the British are the champions, with 41% of employees concerned, 32% working in offices shared by two to four people. Open-plan offices also concern 27% of Spanish people, 25% of Dutch people, 22% of Swedes, 17% of French people and 11% of Germans.
Employees would like to isolate themselves
For more than nine out of ten employees in the European countries studied, the workspace has a significant impact on well-being. Only Germans attach less importance to this (77%). And everywhere, satisfaction drops when employees work in open-plan offices, but it is the French who see the most drawbacks. While 88% of French people in individual offices say they are satisfied, only 67% are satisfied in open-plan offices.
In this type of shared office, few French people (27%) say they can isolate themselves, while other European employees seem to tolerate these dense spaces better, with the British being those who best accept open-plan offices, with 58% able to isolate themselves.
The study was conducted from June 24 to July 1 with a representative sample of 2500 employees working in an office in five European countries: Germany, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For France, the results date from 2013.
Huffingtonpost.fr
Published on November 4, 2014.
Posted online on November 14, 2014.
According to this survey conducted by the CSA institute for Actineo, an observatory of the quality of life in the office, only 16% of Dutch people who work in an office have an individual office, 19% of British people, 25% of Spanish people, 30% of Swedes, 33% of French people and 36% of Germans.
British champions of open-plan offices
The study specifies that 73% of British people work in a shared office, 71% of Spanish people, 66% of Dutch people, 55% of French and Spanish people and 49% of Swedes. Some employees simply do not have a designated office (from 4% in Spain to 21% in Sweden).
In terms of open-plan offices, defined as offices with more than four people, the British are the champions, with 41% of employees concerned, 32% working in offices shared by two to four people. Open-plan offices also concern 27% of Spanish people, 25% of Dutch people, 22% of Swedes, 17% of French people and 11% of Germans.
Employees would like to isolate themselves
For more than nine out of ten employees in the European countries studied, the workspace has a significant impact on well-being. Only Germans attach less importance to this (77%). And everywhere, satisfaction drops when employees work in open-plan offices, but it is the French who see the most drawbacks. While 88% of French people in individual offices say they are satisfied, only 67% are satisfied in open-plan offices.
In this type of shared office, few French people (27%) say they can isolate themselves, while other European employees seem to tolerate these dense spaces better, with the British being those who best accept open-plan offices, with 58% able to isolate themselves.
The study was conducted from June 24 to July 1 with a representative sample of 2500 employees working in an office in five European countries: Germany, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For France, the results date from 2013.
Huffingtonpost.fr
Published on November 4, 2014.
Posted online on November 14, 2014.
