Top European workplace trends: What do workers want?

Having surveyed 4,500 office workers to date, we’ve been afforded a solid viewpoint of the wants and needs of Europe’s workforce. On the brink of Brexit, here we share our top five findings from the research so far, highlighting the vast differences in Europe’s workplace habits!

• The UK is the most frustrated workforce in Europe.
Despite the majority of UK employees currently being based in open plan offices (58%), they are the least likely of all regions to work collaboratively (10%).

• 80% of Swedish office workers put in more than their contracted hours, despite feeling most fulfilled when their home and work lives are in sync. Rather than crave flexible working hours – as all the other regions do – they desire an early finish one day per week. This indicates that rather than greater ‘flex’ what they need is more downtime outside of the office.

• Similarly, in the Netherlands, two thirds of employees work more than their contracted hours. As a result of this, 30% feel they lack the time to utilise any employee benefits offered by the organisation they work for. Despite being able to work off-site, the majority (67%) still believe they are most productive in the office, indicating a want and need for a dedicated workplace.

• In Belgium, co-working spaces are much more prevalent than in the rest of Europe. This could be in light of the fact that although the majority of workspaces are open plan, private offices are actually the most coveted. So, in order to meet the needs of more people, co-working seems a good in-between.

• Noise and poor indoor air quality were the top two concerns for all territories across the board, overtaking issues with the look, layout and location of office environments. Air quality was highlighted as a particularly pressing concern in the UK, the Czech Republic and Poland.

This only just scratches the surface of the findings, which throw up some interesting, and in many cases, surprising, conclusions. To read the full UK report, head to The Great Indoors. Here you’ll also find a wealth of thought leadership content, engaging contributor articles from field experts and thoughts on industry topics circulating in the sector. And for more information on how we can support your editorially-led campaign, get in touch.