People & Skills 

20 August 2019

Welsh Office Workers Value Comfort and Cleanliness in the Workplace

A survey released by international real estate advisor Savills has revealed that Cardiff workers view the comfort and cleanliness of their office as the most important factors for their happiness, alongside the length of their commute.

The report, What Workers Want, found that 89% of Cardiff workers rank ‘comfort of work area’ as the most important factor, this is closely followed by cleanliness at 88%. The commute was also a key concern for the city’s workforce with both length and cost of commute deemed important by over four fifths of respondents.

Factor Cardiff respondents who ranked it as important
Comfort of work area 89%
Cleanliness 88%
Length of commute to work 88%
Noise level 84%
Financial cost of commute to work 83%

Compared to the rest of the UK, Cardiff’s workers were some of the most unsatisfied with their building management services (only 39% satisfied), industry networking opportunities (19% satisfied) and access to showers/changing facilities (20% satisfied).

Factor Cardiff respondents who ranked as satisfied UK respondents who ranked as satisfied
Building management services 39% 43%
Industry networking opportunities 19% 23%
Internal design 24% 32%
External building design 29% 43%
Access to showers/changing facilities 20% 28%

Gary Carver, director in the business space team at Savills Cardiff, comments:

“Historically Cardiff’s office provision was largely older stock, split between the city centre and out-of-town. Recently we have seen developments such as Central Square and Capital Quarter provide new, spacious and high quality offices, something that the city’s workers clearly regard as important.

“This eagerness for better space is also apparent in what workers are unhappy with – most of Cardiff’s workers are unsatisfied with their building management services, the internal design of the access to showers and changing facilities. Hopefully as the city evolves and the quality of space improves there will be more workers satisfied with their workspace.”

The survey notes that for Cardiff office workers, landlords and developers are getting the basics right. The city’s workers are most satisfied with security (70% satisfied), access to number of toilets (63%), ease of access to the building (61%) and the ability to recycle in their offices (56%).

Steve Lang, research director at Savills and author of the report, adds:

“Across the UK, this survey has illustrated just how important it is for landlords to get the basics right, and in Cardiff this is demonstrated in the high satisfaction with aspects such as security and ease of access to the building. That said, it is now time for landlords to start looking at what the city’s workers regard as important and providing an internal workspace that reflects this, with a focus on the comfort of fit out and providing facilities such as shower rooms.”

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