flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Ability to focus, not perks, is top concern for office employees

Office Buildings

Ability to focus, not perks, is top concern for office employees

Open-plan offices found to worsen distraction problem.


By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor | June 16, 2016
Ability to focus, not perks, is top concern for office employees

Open concept meeting space in an office in Redmond, Wash. Photo: Wonderlane/Creative Commons.

Employees’ top priority in an office environment is to be able to focus without interruptions, according to research by Oxford Economics.

A global survey of more than 1,200 senior executives and non-management employees found that employees want office designs to foster the ability to concentrate, more than any other factor.  Amenities like free food, for instance, are far less important, the research shows.

Managers and employees have much different views on this issue. Nearly two-thirds of executives say employees are equipped with the tools they need to deal with distractions at work; but less than half of employees agree with that notion.

The research suggests that the growing popularity of open-plan offices comes with a cost: Difficulty for many employees to get their work done without distractions. In addition, most managers do not have the technology or strategies in place to deal with these problems.

Related Stories

Office Buildings | Oct 8, 2019

David Chipperfield Architects to design new Rolex USA headquarters

The project will replace the existing building that has been occupied by Rolex since the 1970s.

Healthcare Facilities | Oct 1, 2019

Medical offices are filling space vacated by retail

Healthcare developers and providers like the locations, traffic, and parking these spaces offer.

Office Buildings | Sep 25, 2019

'Catalyst' will be Washington’s first CLT office building

Katerra is the design builder for the project with Michael Green Architecture as the design architect.

Office Buildings | Sep 6, 2019

New office complex in Southern California strives to create a Silicon Valley-like campus vibe

FLIGHT at Tustin Legacy includes 100,000 sf of amenities, and is laid out to tie into the surrounding city.

Office Buildings | Sep 3, 2019

A new HOK report focuses on designing offices for a neurodiverse workforce

Emphasizing inclusion and choice is a key component.

Giants 400 | Aug 8, 2019

Top 110 Office Sector Construction Firms for 2019

Turner, STO Building Group, AECOM, Clayco, and Clark lead the rankings of the nation's largest office sector contractors and construction managers, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report. 

Giants 400 | Aug 8, 2019

Top 100 Office Sector Engineering Firms for 2019

Jacobs, Burns & McDonnell, WSP, Thornton Tomasetti, and Arup head the rankings of the nation's largest office sector engineering and engineering architecture (EA) firms, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report.

Giants 400 | Aug 8, 2019

Top 200 Office Sector Architecture Firms for 2019

Gensler, AECOM, Perkins+Will, Stantec, and HOK top the rankings of the nation's largest office sector architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report.

Giants 400 | Aug 8, 2019

2019 Office Giants Report: Demand for exceptional workplaces will keep the office construction market strong

Office space consolidation and workplace upgrades will keep project teams busy, according to BD+C's 2019 Giants 300 Report.

Office Buildings | Jul 12, 2019

How Millennials, Gen Z, and technology are changing workplace design

In the workplace, the only constant is change.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category



Sustainable Design and Construction

Northglenn, a Denver suburb, opens a net zero, all-electric city hall with a mass timber structure

Northglenn, Colo., a Denver suburb, has opened the new Northglenn City Hall—a net zero, fully electric building with a mass timber structure. The 32,600-sf, $33.7 million building houses 60 city staffers. Designed by Anderson Mason Dale Architects, Northglenn City Hall is set to become the first municipal building in Colorado, and one of the first in the country, to achieve the Core certification: a green building rating system overseen by the International Living Future Institute.


MFPRO+ News

San Francisco unveils guidelines to streamline office-to-residential conversions

The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection announced a series of new building code guidelines clarifying adaptive reuse code provisions and exceptions for converting office-to-residential buildings. Developed in response to the Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse program established in July 2023, the guidelines aim to increase the viability of converting underutilized office buildings into housing by reducing regulatory barriers in specific zoning districts downtown. 

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021