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Warm Offices Boost Productivity

bluelip writes "It looks like the real reason for offshoring is corporations looking for warmer weather. Instead of paying the energy bills to crank up the heat in the office to a more productive temperature, the offices are moving to warmer areas. This article shows a 44% error reduction and 150% increase in productivity for those working in warmer offices. Will this increase in output be enough to convince my boss to pay for us to vacation-commute from a tropical island?"

25 of 520 comments (clear)

  1. omg, Canada is doomed! by theluckyleper · · Score: 3, Funny

    Or perhaps Canadians should just wait for global warming to kick in, and reap the 44% in error reduction rewards!

    Go burn those fossil fuels, Canucks!

    --
    Visit the Game Programming Wiki!
    1. Re:omg, Canada is doomed! by Lord_Slepnir · · Score: 1, Funny

      At least there's a good side to Dubya getting re-elected. Four more years of him gutting the clean air act and every environmental law on the books, and we'll be reaping the benefits of 44% error reduction (hopefully enough so that we can figure out the ballots and vote for the Democrat instead of Pat Buchannon)

    2. Re:omg, Canada is doomed! by beyonddeath · · Score: 2, Funny

      Up here in Canada its generally accepted taht it is not possible to heat any room above freezing by conventional means (forced air etc) so we all bought pentium 4's

  2. Re:Warm??? by gclef · · Score: 5, Funny

    Add another problem: warmer temps mean lighter/less female clothing. The effects of this on male productivity should be obvious.

  3. Obligatory offshore joke by Chagatai · · Score: 3, Funny
    Will this increase in output be enough to convince my boss to pay for us to vacation-commute from a tropical island?

    No, but welcome your new office in sunny Bangalore, where the temps often exceed 100F and humidity reigns!

    --
    --Chag
  4. Re:Too warm? by KDan · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes, I agree too. That sounds like a totally stupid study. Maybe they should mention what sort of work they were doing. If the work was to collect drops of sweat in a bucket, then 25 would definitely be more productive. For programming, at 25 my brain slows down to zero and I keep on losing track of what I'm doing, and end up spending all my time browsing the web.

    It shouldn't be cold enough to shiver, but it definitely shouldn't be warm either!

    Daniel

    --
    Carpe Diem
  5. Not me by moorcito · · Score: 2, Funny

    Warm office, bah. I get all my best work done in the deep freeze. Nothing like having your keyboard frozen solid to make you work extra hard typing that TPS report.

  6. Re:Too warm? by francisew · · Score: 2, Funny

    In my lab it's often below 17C / 62F or above 27C / 80F.

    No wonder it takes us so long to graduate...

  7. That explains alot by maddh · · Score: 2, Funny
    I work all day in the server room at about 60F and can barely get anything done.
    All this time I thought I was just born lazy, but its actually the working environment.

    Thanks Science!

  8. Reminds me of idea by Apreche · · Score: 2, Funny

    I had this idea a while ago. That I should make a software company that has no office building. It would consists of a cabana, lots of really comfortable beach chairs, a big safe to store important stuffs in, and a wire box with network/server and a WAP. All the employees would lounge about by the pool, or in the pool with waterproof laptops, doing work and connecting via wireless.

    I mean seriously, what beats coding on the beach? And customers would love to do business with us even if we charged more than the competition. I think its a winner. Every day will be Hawaiian shirt day.

    --
    The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
  9. Warmer offices is politically correct term for... by FerretFrottage · · Score: 5, Funny

    sweatshops...hence the productivity increase.

    --
    "Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
  10. Re:100% by mesach · · Score: 4, Funny

    It makes sense to me, they wanna get thier work done and get the fuck outta the room!

    --
    moo.
  11. Tropical brain power by overmeer · · Score: 4, Funny

    See this is why hawaiians can come up with things like a G4 emulator at 80% host speed.

  12. Re:Temperature Fascists by cyberlotnet · · Score: 4, Funny

    I agree with you 100%

    My motto is very simple

    When its cold you can always put on more clothes.
    When its hot you can only take off so much before your arrested!

  13. Typing errors fell? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    i wuold'nt be so shure of taht

  14. Re:This is old news by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2, Funny
    One of the first productivity studies was in a factory where the researcher first reduced the light, and productivity increased; then the researcher increased the light, and productivity still increased.

    So the most efficient environment is one with a flickering light?
    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  15. Random conclusion... by l4m3z0r · · Score: 2, Funny

    The hotter it is the more productive workers are. Logical conclusion for my management, I better start wearing shorts to work, or perhaps a bathrobe because I fully expect to come into work tomorrow to face sauna-like conditions.

  16. Re:Too warm? by david.given · · Score: 5, Funny
    And it will convert almost everything as well.

    > CONVERT LEAD INTO GOLD

    Definition of convert - WordReference.com Dictionary...

    Darn. And I thought Google could do everything.

  17. Re:Conclusion unwarranted by wombatmobile · · Score: 2, Funny

    those morons jump on trendy bandwagons faster than 14 year old girls.

    yeah? Around here morons jump on 14 year old girls quicker than anything.

  18. Come to North Carolina then by gelfling · · Score: 2, Funny

    We got plenty of heat and third world humidity. Shit we have vultures and snakefish, cousins marrying cousins, no shoes, poor people and the worlds best white trash rednecks too.

    Come to the Tarheel state. It's like Mumbai except the people don't speak English.

  19. Re:Too warm? by NeoSkandranon · · Score: 3, Funny

    Back in highschool we had a couple converts from florida (in western NC) in band...out marching we would rejoice (we being the native NC'ers) when it got down in the low 70s because you could bust ass and not break a sweat...the two new kids were in ski jackets by then.

    OTOH they took the heat much better

    --
    If you can't see the value in jet powered ants you should turn in your nerd card. - Dunbal (464142)
  20. Re:Too warm? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I find I'm much more productive when I can where shorts and nothing else. I don't get nearly as many people interrupting me when they can see just how hairy my body is. ;)

    So you're literally a code monkey

  21. Re:Quite the opposite by Quixote · · Score: 2, Funny

    Err, hate to break it to ya chief, but Antarctica is in the Southern Hemisphere, which means it is going to be summer there starting next month.

  22. Re:Too warm? by egomaniac · · Score: 4, Funny

    2. How many of the people complain that this is too warm:
    a. are overweight, or
    b. smoke, or
    c. drink warm beverages and not the recommended 8 glasses of water a day, or
    d. have high blood pressure, or
    e. feel sleepy because they aren't getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep at night, or
    f. not interested in what they are doing enough to stay awake.


    a: no
    b: no
    c: the 8 glasses of water a day thing is an urban legend
    d: no
    e: no
    f: no

    And yet I'm comfortable at 70F and miserable at 78F. Furthermore, if you're cold, you can dress warmer. If I'm hot, my options are much more limited -- stripping naked at one's workplace tends to have negative repurcussions.

    --
    ZFS: because love is never having to say fsck
  23. Re:Quite the opposite by grcumb · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wow, Antarctica, that's pretty wild.

    I'm currently working in the tiny island nation of Vanuatu in the South Pacific. Here, the temperature is seldom less than 23-25, and frequently warmer. Everyone here at the office is extremely productive.

    (Whoops, back in a second. There's someone selling green coconuts. Gotta get a drink....)

    Sorry, what was I saying? Oh yeah, productivity, right. Yeah it's great here in Vanuatu because

    Heh, sorry, got cut off by my boss. I'm heading out to the beach this afternoon, and he wants to know if I want to borrow his surf board.

    So yeah, the level of productivity in the tropics is *way* higher than in colder places because... Man! That music is great! Sorry, all the windows are open here in the office, and there's a string band playing somewhere outside. Sounds of the islands. Love it, man. Love it.

    Anyway, so I was saying that this study is right on the money, because the temperature here is usually in the high twenties. In fact, it's really comfortable. That means I remain alert and productive at all timezzzmmmmmmz,,

    Heh, sorry. Dozed off for a second there. Listen, I'll finish this right after lunch. Here in Vanuatu we take a 2 hour lunch, because of the heat. Time zone differences mean that you'll probably be asleep by the time I get back, so how about I just finish this up tomorrow, huh?

    --
    Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.