Statistics Norway from cell offices to open landscape

The Statistics Norway (SN) office relocation survey was conducted from February 4th to 15th, 2013 and covered all administration department employees who regularly work in Oslo. The survey aimed at investigating employees’ satisfaction with the current physical environment of the office and their preferences to open and cell offices. The total number of respondents was 62 of which 42 returned the questionnaires. The survey shows that a majority of the administration staff were satisfied with the current physical environment of the office and their preference is towards cell office design. Key findings include:

• Almost half of the respondents travel between 30 and 59 minutes to reach the office from where they stay
• 65 percent of the respondents arrive at office before 08:30 am to have enough concentration, to get off early from work and to avoid traffic during normal hours
• 95 percent of the respondents agreed that they can communicate effectively in the current offices
• 75 percent of the respondents do not consider their job to be rather unpleasant
• More females believe that open offices encourages communication
• 27 percent of the respondents agreed that closed offices limit knowledge sharing and 24 percent were not sure
• 87 percent of the respondents preferred cell office to other types of office design
• 61 percent of the respondents do not know the type of office they will occupy after relocation
• 51 percent of the respondents were neutral on their satisfaction with the role of the trade unions in the preparation of office relocation
• 39 percent of the respondents disagreed that they are looking forward to working in the new offices
• 42 percent were not looking forward to working at the new location
• 58 percent of the respondents were aged 50 and above
• More than 60 percent of the respondents have been working at SN for 10 or more years