FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
A new survey of 6,000+ US, UK, and Australian office workers has found that employees want more ‘hotel-style’ amenities such as areas for socialising, state-of-the-art infrastructure, outdoor spaces, onsite cafes, air conditioning, and flexible work facilities to entice them back to the office – and stay.
MRI Software Market Insights: The Workplace Report reveals almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of respondents say such hotel-style features impact their decision on whether to work for an organisation, including more than one in 10 who see failure to provide the right amenities as a deal breaker.
The survey, commissioned by global PropTech giant MRI Software includes statistically significant responses from the United States (2,005), United Kingdom (2,004) and Australia (2,008). Results are relatively consistent across all three markets that hybrid working is leading organisations to rethink the workplace. The majority of people want flexibility to combine work-from-home with in-office options.
Brian Zrimsek, Industry Principal at MRI Software and the report’s author commented: “Attracting people back into the office – even if for only part of the week – is vital to facilitating face-to-face interactions that boost collaboration, information-sharing, learnings, mentorship and the development of the desired company culture. Modern offices must be places where people feel welcomed and enjoy working while they are there. Creating work environments that reflect today’s more fluid working dynamics is critical to retaining and attracting the very best talent post-pandemic.”
Overall, just nine per cent of survey respondents globally don’t care about workplace amenities. At the other end of the scale, 19% per cent say they are “critical” to deciding whether to stay at a job or not, and 11 per cent assert, “If an employer doesn’t have a lot of these things, I’m not interested”. Over a third (34 per cent) of employees see them as important factors after the nature of the job itself.
When asked about specific amenities they are looking for onsite in an office, 40-50 per cent of respondents identified air conditioning, effective network connectivity, and free parking – all three of which are largely standard in many workplaces today.
A second tier of less common, modern amenities also emerged in the findings, highlighting the need for flexible and creative use of space with features that enhance the environment to make it more appealing in the post-Covid era. These include:
- Areas for socialising (28 per cent)
- Onsite café/cafeteria/restaurant (28 per cent)
- Outside/green space (26 per cent)
- A gym (21 per cent)
- Changing/shower facilities (15 per cent)
- Bicycle storage (13 per cent)
A significant number of employees identified technology-enabled amenities that will improve their efficiency and collaboration in the hybrid working world, including:
- Hotdesking, bookable meeting rooms, and break-out meeting spaces (24 per cent)
- 24/7 access (19 per cent)
- Smart conferencing tools (15 per cent)
Zrimsek continued: “Hotel-style office amenities and user-friendly work tools are emerging as a key part of the employer playbook for winning over new and existing staff. Visionary organisations are using technology in planning for their future as they refashion workplaces to ensure layout, capacity and accompanying features meet the needs of their teams – while using booking systems, sensors, desk screens, mobile apps and other tech aids to improve the office user experience and boost efficiency.”
The survey also shows most workers want flexibility in their working environment. Only 15 per cent of respondents want to work at home all the time. That figure is skewed by the fact that over a quarter (26 per cent) of those aged 55 and up want to work at home every day, while just 10 per cent of those under 25 want to do so – the older the respondent, the more likely they are to want to work at home full time. On the other hand, the survey shows that a third (33 per cent) of respondents want to alternate between home and some type of office set-up while 38 per cent prefer to work in a formal office or a flexible co-working space – or a combination of those.
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