26.02.2020

Almost half of UK workers would change jobs because of an unpleasant workspace

More than half of UK employees would be willing to leave their job because of an unappealing office, according to a new survey of over 1,000 UK office workers (drawn from a broad cross section of sectors) to find out what employees’ thought about their current and preferred workplaces.

The research, carried out by national property specialist Matthews & Goodman, revealed that 44% of employees would ‘definitely’ look for a new job because of an unpleasant workplace. In addition, a further 45% said it ‘might’ encourage them to look around for a new job.

When comparing generations, 48% of millennials were more likely to move jobs because of the state of the office, compared to 42% of Generation Xers.

Commenting on the survey findings David Laws, Partner, Matthews & Goodman said: “The office environment is becoming an increasingly important consideration for many employees, across all generations especially, given the growing body of opinion that office design can have a significant impact on employee wellbeing and productivity, as well as talent attraction and retention.

“Most businesses now recognise the value and importance of good office design. We know for example that creating an environment which allows different activities to be performed as individuals and teams over the course of the working day, can have a profound impact on productivity. However, being able to cut through the fads and fashions of office design is important and, it’s very telling that one of the survey’s findings is that office workers actually prefer a traditional workplace.”

When asked to rate various characteristics of an office, a tidy workplace was voted the most desired by 29% of respondents, whilst a good kitchen (25%) and a comfortable break-out area (10%) were other critical factors.

However, it is interesting to note that 76% of respondents did not consider having access to the latest office tech and applications as important.

In addition, natural light (22% of respondents) and good transportation (16%) were other issues which impacted the office experience.

Laws added: “Many businesses are investing heavily to create workplaces which are engaging, homely and differentiating however, our survey highlighted the fact that employees are simply looking for a space which allows them to be productive.

“Interestingly, given the current trend for flexible working, our survey revealed that 57% of employees are not able to work from home and 34% are not able to take advantage of flexible working hours.”

A separate study, conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) into UK working lives, found that although over 54% of workers currently work flexibly in some way, there is a lot of unmet demand, as over two in three workers (68%) would like to work flexibly in a way which is not currently available. The CIPD said: “most flexible arrangements make a big difference to people’s quality of life and usually have no impact on one’s career."

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