Workers Wasting Time Due To Poorly Designed Work Spaces

New studies have shown that one in five workers has around two unproductive hours each day at work. That equates to ten hours a week, 40 hours a month, and a whopping 480 hours a year - that’s a lot of work that’s being missed.

According to recent studies, the main cause of these two unproductive hours a week is a poorly designed work environment. What this study revealed is that a combination of poorly designed office space, no natural light, a lack of good refreshment facilities, are all factors that add to an employees’ inability to work productively.

The issue is that these two hours a day that employees aren’t working productively equates to a huge financial loss over time. These two hours a day that are lost to unproductive working equate to a financial deficit of over $4 billion in loss output each year to the business economy.

What this new research does is urge business owners to take a look at their office spaces to ensure that the design and facilities that they have on offer are suitable for encouraging team members to work in a more productive way. It’s also crucial that any facilities offered aid mental health and wellness of team members.


By taking these things more seriously, employers could drastically boost workplace productivity. This links to the fact that as previous research has shown, happy workers increase productivity by around 12 percent, whereas unhappy workers decrease productivity by a whopping ten percent.

What this means is that business owners need to take workplace design more seriously. There’s a common trend of not wanting to spend excess funds to redesign workspaces. However, what this new research highlights is the fact that it’s essential that workplace design is taken seriously, as otherwise there can be an impact on productivity in addition to employee mental health and wellness.

Another study found that one in five workers would agree that they are unproductive for at least two hours a day due to their working environment. What this has outlined is the fact that when it comes to office design, regular commercial fitouts to keep spaces suitable for changing worker needs is vital.

While business owners don’t always want to spend a large amount of money on their workspaces, what it’s important for the business sector to understand, and those working within it, is that poorly designed workspaces are having a significant impact and are leading to a lack of productivity and financial problems for business owners. Therefore, being willing to invest in your workplace environment to create a nicer and easier to work in space for your team members is of crucial importance.

More and more business owners are starting to take employee mental health and wellness seriously, which is a fantastic step. However, if the majority of business owners are not taking this seriously and are unwilling to take steps to improve the workplaces on offer to their team members, this shows that there is a serious issue that needs addressing.