The No. 1 Office Perk? Natural Light, According To Hundreds of Employees (hbr.org)

An anonymous reader shares a report: The news headlines about what perks or elements of office design make for a great employee experience seem to be dominated by fads -- think treadmill desks, nap pods, and "bring your dog to work day" for starters. However, a new survey by my HR advisory firm Future Workplace called "The Employee Experience" reveals the reality is that employees crave something far more fundamental and essential to human needs. In a research poll of 1,614 North American employees, we found that access to natural light and views of the outdoors are the number one attribute of the workplace environment, outranking stalwarts like onsite cafeterias, fitness centers, and premium perks including on-site childcare (only 4-8% of FORTUNE 100 companies offer on-site child care). The study also found that the absence of natural light and outdoor views hurts the employee experience. Over a third of employees feel that they don't get enough natural light in their workspace. 47% of employees admit they feel tired or very tired from the absence of natural light or a window at their office, and 43% report feeling gloomy because of the lack of light.

Comments

Nope

[Anonymous Coward]

The #1 office perk is getting a paycheck. Health insurance is a close second. Bathrooms will be up there above natural light as well.

Re:Nope

[vux984]

Paycheck isn't a perk its contractual. Health care, likewise is often considered to be part of the compensation package.

Bathrooms in the first world can generally be assumed to be mandated by law/building codes/ required for business licenses to be granted etc, and are ubiquitous enough that they can be assumed if you work in a building. If you don't work inside though, then bathrooms are often a challenge.

A *nice* bathroom might well be a valuable perk though.

FWIW, I agree with the article, my own home office windows overlook a greenspace -- to be able to just look out at trees gently waving in the breeze is something i truly value. It's a big part of why i chose the place.

Re:Nope

[Darinbob]

My cube is next to a window. It's by a parking lot, but sitting down all I see green tree leaves and blue sky and no cars or asphalt. This is more than I see at home to be honest. Also the lighting is a soft LED that is much nicer than flourescents. It was a big boost to mood going from a cubicle near the center of an aging building with crappy carpets to a refurbished building with sunlight.

disagree

[bananaquackmoo]

As a programmer and designer: Noooope! Light and reflections create monitor glare which in turn create headaches, color/contrast inaccuracies, and more trouble. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy daylight... when I'm outdoors or in a rest area. When I'm working, I'm working. Outdoors & daylight are distractions at that point.

Re:disagree

[Dutch Gun]

Completely agree. Many game development environments I've worked in have been darkened, with windows mostly covered and overhead lights mostly off. Both programmers and artists alike seem to prefer a dim environment, where they can view their monitors all day without headache-inducing glare. It's especially important for artists to be able to see color and contrast properly, so their areas tend to be the darkest, in my recollection.

It would be nice to not have to work in a cave, but it's more practical, at least for me. I keep my home office somewhat dimly lit, with shades drawn and a single 30 watt bulb (equivalent) in a shaded lamp for illumination.

Re:disagree

[aaarrrgggh]

You are unfortunately comparing bad lighting (and light) to good lighting and office orientation. My work is primarily either on my monitor or whiteboard behind my desk. I have about 5fc on my desk compared to a modern recommendation of 20-30fc, but I have fill-in lights to light up the wall in front of my desk to about 5% of the exitance from the monitor, along with a separate light that provides full-in on overcast days.

When an office is designed well, you have significantly less eye strain than a dark office. Natural light adds to it.

Unfortunately, designing good functional lighting for office spaces is a long lost art.

I can definitely vouch for this.

[Anonymous Coward]

I've had offices in:
1) A windowless room, but two doors away from standing at the coast. This was crappy even though the seawall was great to walk during breaks.
2) A full wall window on the 9th floor of a tower with a clear line of sight to the horizon. Rarely went outside the building, but I miss this every day. So do my plants.
3) A half wall window on the ground floor looking at the forest. This was somewhere in between - the light was nice, the view was OK, but I did go walk in the woods quite a bit.
4) A windowless room with some forest outside. This is kind of crappy, I don't like florescent lights.

By far the offices with more natural light were much better workspaces, and I would willingly (sometimes unthinkingly) spend much more time at work and being productive from them.

Re:Light is important, yes...

[PolygamousRanchKid]

As is the ability to reduce the eye-searing blaze of overabundant fluorescent and LED fixtures that typically exceed the minimum legal requirements by a huge margin.

The No. 1 Office Perk?

A Home Office.

It has the best lighting inside because you set it that way.

Or if the weather is nice, sit outside.

Not just a perk, it's the law

[ruddk]

Now I know that I live in a socialist hell hole worse than Venezuela (According to Fox News). But it is actually the law that you can't build a office where people sit in more than two rows from a window.
https://arbejdstilsynet.dk/da/...

Google translated version: https://translate.google.com/t...

No 1 should be

[Trogre]

No 1 should be an actual office.

Not some bullshit open-plan or cubicle hell dreamed up by a $500/hr consultant to foster collaboration and synergy of your brand.

Re:Light is important, yes...

[Darinbob]

Naw, my cubicle is nicer than my home office. The cubicle has air conditioning and someone who vacuums every now and then.