Changing the workplace

You would have seen the ad attracting investors to our country for its young demographics. If Indonesia has half of its present number of people under the age of 30, we speak of 40 percent below the age of 15.

This is true here even if every woman on the average now has three children, down from six a quarter of a century ago.

The workplace reflects this very positive picture as traditional workers and boomers born before 1964 share working spaces with Generation X, who were born from 1965 to 1980, and the interesting young Generation Y, also called the Millennials, born from 1981 to 1991.

The millennials color the working landscape the world over. Born from the time of the launch  of IBM PC and Apple II for home use, they embrace the digital world. These future business leaders have seen global collaboration in school and at home.

Trend

Millennials are naturally connected, and they like working in public places. Their preferences and workstyle inspire workplace designers to pursue a trend toward today’s fluid, versatile or multiform office.

One will see millennials’ strong desire for color variety, less need for ergonomics, less desire for the corner office, high noise tolerance, more informal work attire, preference for amenities. They have strong multitasking skills, having grown up accustomed to multiple stimuli.

Of course the use of advanced communication technologies is multigenerational today, when you can connect with others any time and anywhere in the world, or access information even through your mobile phone.

Advanced information technology is largely responsible for a drop of up to 40 percent in the use of the dedicated worktable.  Through the years we witnessed a drop in the size of the manager’s office, office table and the cubicle panel height.

There has been a continual shift to more and better team-oriented workstations.

Office and business people can work within the “office of the moment” where they have their computers and peripherals. These gadgets enable them to collaborate and seek information and expertise virtually anywhere around the globe.

Building designers try to balance the need for privacy and the need to collaborate. Large and small meetings have to be accommodated in areas conducive to communication, creativity and innovation. Business organizations now ask for building design that promotes contact, creativity and collaboration.

The health and productivity levels of workers are the goal of sustainable building and office design.

Movement from closed-door offices to more collaborative and team-based workstations is accompanied by the consideration of some green factors.

Cost-effective

Reducing building costs for less individual space in favor of more cost-effective shared workspace is healthy for the company’s finances.

More sunlight, more ventilation and better views—especially a view with vegetation—have been proven to help workers improve their health, mood and work output.

Even retail sales outlets with more sunlight experience higher sales than those with poor natural light.

Children score 25 percent higher in well-lighted classrooms than those in less abundantly daylighted classrooms.

Windows and skylights give a view of nature while they conserve energy and therefore bring lighting costs down.

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