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Not working? A new survey suggests more than half of UK workers would rather have a private office than share space with colleagues

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Main picture: Airbnb office, Dublin, by Heneghan Peng. Photo: Ed Reeve

Flick through the pages of any workplace design magazine and you'll get the impression that open plan offices are an unalloyed success story - but a new survey suggests that the people who actually work in open plan offices may not be so enthusiastic.

The survey, commissioned by Expert Market, an online marketplace for office equipment and services, reveals that many employees are not fans of the open-plan office set up with 54 per cent of workers asked saying they would prefer to have their own office than share space with co-workers.

According to Expert Market. 'The findings beg the question: have we got it wrong? In the quest to boost team morale through a relaxed and less formal environment, companies may have achieved quite the opposite.'

See also: Are offices a waste of space and time?

See also: Office design: the best and worst trends

While concepts such as 'hot-desking' (where employees use whichever desks are convenient/available rather than having their 'own' desk) have become popular, it seems most people would prefer the privacy and sense of ownership that comes with having an office of one's own.

The office of Lego PMD in Denmark, designed by Rosan Bosch and Rune Fjord; Photo: Anders Sune Berg

According to the survey, which questioned 1060 office workers in the UK, peace and quiet came top of the list of things employees said could improve their working day, with over 37 per cent of respondents preferring a quiet office over regular breaks and even cake.
Expert Market says workers reported that the open plan design of many offices 'encouraged a negative sense of competition between staff and a hostile working environment that pitted colleagues against one other'.

While office designers, business owners and managers are often keen to emphasise the 'collaborative' and 'democratic' nature of open plan working, it's no secret that open plan offices - especially ones which use hot-desking - are cheaper for employers than those which give most employees their own private offices.

Tony Nguyen of Expert Market said: 'The findings urge us to question whether a cheaper office structure is really saving an organisation money or costing the business dearly through decreased morale and productivity?'

Key findings:

- 54% claimed they would prefer to work in separate offices
- 37.6% said a quiet office would improve their working day the most
- Respondents ranked a poor computer as the most frustrating piece of equipment which had the most impact on morale at work
- 65% said having no natural light negatively impacted their mood

See also: Open office plans are bad for people's health, an Australian study has found