Contrary to common workplace assumptions, open-plan offices are linked to lower-levels of job satisfaction and wellbeing.
Researchers from Sweden and Denmark explored the employee job satisfaction and productivity of 271 participants across differing office environments, comparing individual office-based settings, shared-room offices (sharing with 1 to 2 co-workers), small open-plan offices (sharing with 3 to 9 co-workers) and medium-sized open-plan offices (sharing with 10 to 20 co-workers). Contrary to assumptions that open-plan offices improve communication and productivity, employees working in small or medium-sized open-plan offices reported lower levels of job satisfaction, subjective wellbeing, and ease of interaction with co-workers than employees working in individual or shared-room offices. The association between office type and job satisfaction was mediated by ease of interaction and, in turn, subjective wellbeing.
doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3707
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