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Hotdesking vs. designated desks What do workers want?

The flexible working revolution has brought with it a whole spectrum of workspaces including hotdesking, coworking spaces, serviced offices and leased offices where employees do not have a fixed workstation. But what do employees themselves want? A recent study by the Scottish Social Services Council, published by the University of Dundee, surveyed the feelings of newly qualified social workers in different workplace environments. The researchers found that half of their respondents were satisfied with their working environment, although some felt frustrated if there was not enough desk space for them to be able to find a place when they needed one. In one case, a respondent explained that they “often can’t get a desk in my own office where all my files are kept and have to go to another building… overall it just feels unsettling, like you are always on the move”. The findings highlight the importance of sufficient capacity, whether working in a coworking space which offers hot desk access, or occupying serviced offices or traditional leased offices and trying to optimise the number of workstations for a flexible workforce.

Positive working environments

The option of a designated desk was one of the two most significant factors cited by the researchers in positive survey responses, along with “a modern and fresh environment”.Other features of positive working environments included:

• Adequate space, light, heat and technology
• Access to quiet and confidential areas
• Places to take a break and/or eat
• Access to showers and hygiene facilities
• Access to on-site bicycle storage

Serviced Office Company’s serviced offices in Manchester, Telford and London provide these benefits across the board, with premises full of natural light and views across waterside and park locations. Our premises also offer the option to hire meeting rooms on-site, ideal for confidential meetings with clients, job applicants, stakeholders or colleagues. Showers and washrooms, bike storage, kitchen areas and comfortable breakout rooms all help to make sure employees have everything they need for a positive experience from their workplace. With scalable serviced offices and the option to hot desk in communal spaces too, we cater for all sizes of organisation, from individual entrepreneurs to growing SMEs looking for professional office space of their own.

Serviced offices vs. hotdesking

You may still be considering the pro’s and con’s of serviced offices vs. hotdesking, but the two can work well alongside each other. Just some examples of this include:

• A sole trader chooses to hot desk in our communal areas, before moving into serviced offices in MediaCity as business gets off the ground.
• A business based mostly around remote working uses our premises to hot desk when needed, with meeting rooms to hire for confidential client conversations.
• An SME leases serviced offices in London and scales up to provide more hot desk capacity for a growing workforce.

We welcome enquiries relating to flexible working, especially as we all progress through the post-pandemic period together – to find out more or to discuss what your business needs to grow in the years ahead, please contact us today to talk to our team.