People’s Top Concern in Going Back to the Office Is Not Even the Office

Naama Adler

2 July, 2020

Results of ‘Back to the Office’ poll reveal biggest COVID fears

To learn what our members’ biggest concern is in returning to the office, and best prepare for their return, we ran a survey of over 1,000 members across all of our locations 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.

Here are some key findings across our global community, including Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, and Poland, where lockdown restrictions have already been lifted:

It turns out, people’s top concern is going to the toilets (30% of respondents who mentioned the toilets as their top concern are very worried).

The two other main concerns are that coworkers won’t be taking social distancing seriously and the ability to social distance while working (65% of those interviewed ranked one of these factors as their biggest concern).

In countries where the virus has a less severe health impact we’ve already seen a significant number of members return to our offices:

  • Israel: 57% indicated they had already returned, with another 27% indicating they are going back in the next 4–8 weeks
  • Germany: 33% indicated they had already returned, with another 40% indicating they are going back in the next 4–8 weeks
  • Poland & Romania: 27% indicated they had already returned — with another 42% indicating going back in the next 4–8 weeks.

Another interesting insight this survey has revealed is that the overall concern-ranking of all respondents did not exceed 3.5 (out of 5). Meaning, even though there are some concerns, our members are not that worried about going back to the office.

To make sure we’re all prepared for protecting our members and keeping them safe, we are taking part in two industry initiatives: WORC — the global council of workplace operators, and Safe Spaces — both intended to educate and support safe workplaces post-COVID. We’ve implemented a new health and safety standard across all 31 locations according to each country’s regulations, eliminating the ‘COVID headache’ for our members.

Improved buildings’ fresh air ventilation system

“Operating in markets that have already opened up, we know that these practices have instilled a sense of safety among our members and played a key role in aiding a faster return to the office. We believe this approach will garner similar results for our sites in markets returning to the office in the weeks ahead.” says our CEO Dan Zakai. “We’re also discovering that offering total flexibility of workplaces, both physically and financially, is proving particularly favorable among our members, enabling us to create solutions for those companies who wish to return to work on a more gradual basis. This level of flexibility will be critical to ensure business continuity in the months ahead.”

Dedicated signage to raise awareness, and new seating arrangements to allow social distance

Want to know more about our Safe Spaces? Check out our website.

About the author

Naama is Mindspace's Marketing Lead - a marketing manager with vast experience in online and offline marketing.

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