UK office workers’ growing concern for the environment

What’s more, two-thirds of the UK respondents admitted that they could ‘do better’ in tackling environmental challenges.

This is in-step with Tarkett’s global Rethinking Workplace research, which indicates a growing expectation from office workers about their employers’ level of commitment to creating healthy, sustainable workplace environments and reducing the impact on the environment.

Pre-pandemic, this sat outside the top five of office design, and now sits resolutely in the top three.

WKSpaces’s UK findings also flags the importance of specifying furniture, fabrics and finishes made from sustainable sources, with two thirds of respondents highlighting this as ‘important’ or ‘very important’.

However, perhaps unsurprisingly in the current climate, the most pressing aspect of the office environment was indoor air quality, with over 90% of respondents highlighting this as most important in the survey.

According to Hannah Nardini, workplace strategist and managing director at WKSpace, this significant shift in attitudes from pre-pandemic times is a key trend that will influence office work interiors going forward.

The workplace agency has been tracking end-user attitudes since the start of the pandemic to understand how they changes over time and what influence they will have on our working environments.

What’s clear is that office users are emerging from this period with a renewed sense of purpose to make a positive social impact. This will be a significant factor when designing and specifying new workspaces.

To learn more about WKSpace’s latest findings, Watch the Rethinking Workplace Webinar; ‘The Essential Office’ on demand here.