Tied to the desk
height=”100″ />When I started working on SM I had a large desk that curved around a corner.
When the company expanded, we had to find space to accommodate our new colleagues and my nice wide workspace (along with everybody else’s) was replaced with a much smaller version. And as the tower of books waiting to be reviewed to my right looms over me, I long for a bit of extra space.
It could be worse of course, as I might not even have a desk to call my own – and it looks as though this is the way things are heading. A study published this week found organisations plan to reduce space by 17 per cent by 2020. As a result, companies will provide only seven desks for every 10 staff.
For some, this won’t be that much of an issue, as 29 per cent of workers will instead be based in ‘semi-permanent’ locations, including the home, on project sites, and at supplier or client offices (although it doesn’t explain whether they will get a desk there or not).
The primary benefit of this (for businesses, at least) is a “more flexible, agile workplace”, but the lower employee-related and real-estate costs must also be a juicy incentive for organisations.
So it’s probably time to stop dreaming of that corner office, and just be thankful you’ve got somewhere to sit at all.
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I like the idea of ‘more flexible, agile workplace’. This tendency suits me very well. What is not yet catching up with me is an alternative to office environment, which would produce the similar to office engagement experience.
I will resist advertisin our spare accommodation and that I’m responsible for increasing revenue via subletting, because I did that a few weeks ago. Our spare accommodation is nearly all sorted with tenants now, thankfully.
The link to ‘corner office’ in the piece is amusing. I am sitting in Caffe Nero with a very large window to the front of me, and an even bigger one on my left. Having read the link, I now feel very important. Individuals can find the move to ‘hot-desking’ seriously personally distressing, and wise employers may wonder what the unseen (‘total’) costs of such changes are. ‘Our people are our most valuable asset’ I read in many company reports. Yeah?