Coworkers not taking social distancing seriously and the ability to social distance while working are some of the top concerns.
Mindspace, the global flex space provider, has announced the results of a new survey of over 1,000 members across their sites in the US, Europe and Israel, revealing anxieties, intentions and changing habits as employees in the Western world begin to return to the office since the virus took hold.
Key findings for the Romanian Mindspace members include:
- The commute and using the bathroom (35,3%) are the most feared factors when it comes to going back to the office
- In-office life, Romanians have missed being around their colleagues (58,6%) and face-to-face meetings (41,4%) more than anything else
- 27,6% of Romanian Mindspace members indicated they had already returned to the office, with another 41,4% indicating they are going back in the next 3-6 weeks.
Key findings across Mindspace’s global community, including the US, the UK Germany, the Netherlands and Poland:
- Top concerns are: Coworkers not taking social distancing seriously and the ability to social distance while working (65% ranked at least one of these factors as their biggest concern)
- Most missed factors of office life are: being around their colleagues (67,8%), face-to-face meetings (39,5%) and getting out of the house (35,4%).
- When it comes to commute, 34% of the public transportation commuters will change the way they get to work. On the other end of the spectrum are those who walk to the office, with only 4% of them planing to change their commute
- Other countries where the virus has a less severe health impact and have already seen a significant number of workers indicated their intention to return to Mindspace offices:
- Israel: 57% indicated they had already returned, with another 27% indicating they are going back in the next 3-6 weeks
- Germany: 33% indicated they had already returned, with another 40% indicating they are going back in the next 3-6 weeks
- Poland: 27% indicated they had already returned – with another 42% indicating going back in the next 3-6 weeks.
Mindspace is part of two industry initiatives: WORC – the global council of workplace operators, and Safe Spaces – both intended to educate and support safe workplaces post-COVID.
“We are implementing a new health and safety standard across all 31 of our locations in 7 countries, according to each country’s regulations, eliminating the ‘COVID headache’ for our tenants. Operating in markets that have already opened up, we’ve established some best practices to ensure our members can stay safe, enjoy their office life and focus on their work,” says Mindspace CEO Dan Zakai. “We believe that offering total flexibility of workspaces, both physically and financially, will be critical to ensure business continuity in the months ahead.”