FOCUS HEALTH & SAFETY
SUPPORT STAFF With a recent survey revealing that workplace wellbeing is a priority for staff ,
itƉs time to invest in workspace technology to support the health, safety and
wellbeing of workers, says 3aul =uidema, Managing Director EMEA, Ergotron
Over the last 18 months, the world
of work has changed, most likely
forever – from fixed corporate o ice
workstations to a more flexible blend
of remote, o ice, and home-based
workspaces. As the new generation of
tech-native and influential Gen-Z workers
assume their places to drive our economic
future, the balance of power has tipped in
favour of employees in making decisions
over how and where they work. These
changes mean that technology and
equipment that supports comfort and
productivity can no longer be limited to
the o ice. This begs the question, are
employers ready for this change?
32 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2022
According to a recent survey by Ergotron ,
nearly three quarters of UK workers (73 per cent)
would choose their next employer based on the
provision of flexible technology and wellbeing
support. If this isn’t enough of a wake-up call, it
may not be long before there is UK Government
legislation to support the needs of remote and
home-based workers. There is a growing need
for employers to prioritise the development of a
clear flexible working strategy which promotes
the health and wellbeing of their employees. As
they reduce their corporate building footprint,
employers now need to be ready to scale up
provision for their workers to communicate,
connect, and create - wherever they may be
located.
THE IMPORTANCE OF OFFICE DESIGN
As a result of the pandemic normalising remote
work, workers are unsurprisingly choosing
not to return to the oŽ ice full time. So— ware
comparison company Capterra surveyed an
international group of 4,600 employees to find
the extent they would like to work full time in
the oŽ ice a— er the pandemic, and found that
one third of home workers do not want to
return to working solely in the oŽ ice.
At the same time, many large organisations
are already revising their return-to-work
strategies and reviewing their corporate oŽ ice
space. A Fortune/Deloitte survey found that up
to 76 per cent of CEOs think they will need less
oŽ ice space in the future. Since then, Deloitte