People know what they don’t want at work—a sea of bland, uniform spaces where ideas go to die.
In fact, a recent Steelcase study of global office workers found that although 77 percent of people have their own assigned workstation, the vast majority—87 percent—spend two to four hours every day working someplace else. We wanted to know: Why are people migrating away from their desks? What kinds of spaces are they looking for? Is it as simple as adding some sofas and a barista bar to give people the kind of workplace they want?
As it turns out, monotony is a huge motivator—just over half of people (51 percent) say they need an escape from working in the same place during their day, whether they were alone or with others. They’re also seeking deeper relationships with colleagues, and 43 percent believe informal spaces can help build more trust.
DESIRE VS. REALITY
People give lackluster scores to the ancillary spaces their companies provide today. Digging deeper we saw what’s behind the ho-hum ratings:
