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

Posted by msmash on from the how-about-that dept.

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.

5 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. Nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

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

  2. I can definitely vouch for this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

  3. Not just a perk, it's the law by ruddk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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...

    --
    L'Idiot
  4. No 1 should be by Trogre · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    --
    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  5. Re:Light is important, yes... by Darinbob · · Score: 5, Funny

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