Commercial Real Estate: Office fitouts play an important role in influencing staff morale and retention according to a survey results released today by Amicus Interiors. On average, over 88 percent of respondents believe their fitouts affect how their staff perform. The survey also revealed how important areas for play, entertainment and relaxation are to employees, yet found only half of those surveyed included them in their office fitouts.
The Amicus Fitout Trends Survey conducted by Australian office fitout and refurbishment company Amicus Interiors, surveyed a range of managers across a variety of industries in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to analyse trends in office size, design and configuration.
Over 75 percent believed their current office fitout had a positive influence on staff morale and retention, while an average of 12 percent thought it had a negative effect. Only a small percentage found their fitouts had no effect on staff morale and retention .
Areas for play, entertainment and relaxation were important to all cities, with almost 90 percent of those who had them as part of their offices utilising the areas. However, despite demonstrating a proven practicality, businesses still tend to exclude them from the design of their office layout with just over half of Sydney and Brisbane and under half from Melbourne including the areas in their fitouts.
“The commercial property market in Melbourne has been struggling for a number of years now. This has led to landlords becoming more flexible and accepting that full floors can be split into smaller tenancies, therefore it is not surprising that Melbourne has revealed itself in this way,” said Andrew Holder, CEO of Amicus Interiors Australia.
According to the results, almost 60 percent of offices tend to be either small spaces up to 200 square metres or large areas over 1000 square metres. Melbourne recorded the largest number of small offices – four percent more than Brisbane and eight percent more than Sydney – while Brisbane offices are the largest, around two percent ahead of the other cities.
Most planned to stay long-term at their current premises, with 60 percent of Sydney and Brisbane respondents not planning on moving within the next two years. Melbourne workers were more unsure of their situation and open to the idea of relocating, with over half contemplating a move by the end of 2015.
Open plan and combination of office and open plan configurations are the most popular according to the survey, accounting for 90 percent of office layouts in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The hot desking trend seems to be on the way out with only one business in Sydney using the system in its office.
The full survey results are available online at info.amicusinteriors.com.au/survey-report-2013.
