Capital One has published the results of its latest survey of US full-time professionals for their thoughts on workplace design and the working environment as it relates to their productivity, innovation and collaboration with colleagues. According to the resulting 2018 Work Environment Survey of 3,500 office based respondents in urban centres across the US, many value flexibility and workplace design, particularly when evaluating whether to stay at their current job or consider a new employment opportunity. Employees also place a great deal of focus on technology, design elements such as lighting and agile workspaces, and personal wellbeing.

Main findings:

Flexibility is crucial: Professionals increasingly want to work at companies that accommodate a variety of work styles with flexible design, workspaces and hours. In fact, 85 percent of office professionals surveyed believe flexible workplace design is important and 83 percent said they have their best ideas when working in flexible space options. Flexible schedules also prove to be crucial to talent attraction and retention – 73 percent of workers say a flexible schedule is in their top two reasons to stay with a company, and flexible hours was the number one thing workers cited when asked what they expect from their next employer (58 percent).

Tech expectations: Employee expectations are high across the board, and technology is no exception. A majority of professionals (85 percent) across the country say it’s important that their next employer be an early adopter of technology, quick to invest in and implement new tech.

Office design drives innovation: For the second year in a row, the majority of office professionals believe companies can’t encourage innovation unless their workplace environment is innovative (79 percent). Those at the executive level feel even more strongly about this, with 87 percent agreeing office design is key to encouraging innovation.