Watch out! Open-plan offices may open the door to bullying, stress, and low productivity.
Open-plan offices may hurt more than help. Nearly 21% of office employees are stuck in a traditional open-plan space with zero privacy.
Open-plan offices carry a higher risk of workplace bullying than private or small shared offices, finds a new study. This is shown in research from Linköping University, Sweden.
“Increased bullying is a tangible negative consequence of how you choose to organize the workplace. It’s important to highlight this, as it hasn’t previously been examined,” says Michael Rosander, professor at the Division of Psychology at Linköping University.
Open Offices, Closed Minds: Why Sharing Space Isn’t Always Better
Open-plan offices, where many employees share the same space, have become increasingly common. Employers often justify this development as a way to use premises more efficiently and to encourage creative interactions between employees. However, research has shown that open-plan offices do not promote health, job satisfaction or productivity.
Until now, it has been unclear whether open-plan offices also affect the risk of bullying and employees’ motivation to look for another job. Through surveys of more than 3,300 randomly selected individuals in employment in Sweden, Michael Rosander has now provided an answer. The results are published in the journal Occupational Health Science (1✔ ✔Trusted Source
Workplace Bullying in the Open: the Risks Associated with Working in an Open Office
Go to source).
Twenty-one percent of those with some form of office-based work reported that they worked in a traditional open-plan office with no access to private space. Nine percent worked in so-called activity-based offices, where employees spend part of their time in an open-plan environment but also have access to designated rooms for tasks requiring peace and quiet. The remainder had their own office or shared one with only a few colleagues.
For traditional open-plan offices, the survey responses showed a clearly increased risk of bullying compared with those who had their own office or shared an office with only a few colleagues. The difference remained regardless of factors such as personality traits and the extent of remote working. This suggests that the problems are indeed caused by the work environment in the office.
The researchers’ explanation is that in traditional open-plan offices it is easier to notice colleagues’ shortcomings and become irritated by them. If someone gets frustrated and takes it upon themselves to “do something about” a colleague’s behavior, and there are no clear guidelines for handling such situations, there is a risk that it may escalate into bullying. Those who are subjected to bullying lack access to a private space for retreat.
Activity-based open-plan offices, by contrast, showed no increased risk of bullying, likely due to the availability of private spaces. However, in both types of open-plan office, employees were more likely to consider changing jobs. One possible explanation is that activity-based offices also involve more distractions, according to Michael Rosander.
Desk Sharing or Stress Sharing? The Truth About Open-Plan Offices
For employers who have introduced, or are planning to introduce, open-plan offices, there are some lessons to be learned. One is to be prepared to deal with irritation and conflicts before they escalate. Another is the importance of providing rooms where employees can work undisturbed. Placing individuals with similar needs and tasks near one another may also reduce the risk of disruption.
Hidden Dangers of Traditional Open-Plan Offices
“Traditional open-plan offices are in themselves negative for the individual, for productivity, and make people more likely to leave their job. Social interaction also suffers. So it’s worth considering how to handle it,” says Michael Rosander.
References:
- Workplace Bullying in the Open: the Risks Associated with Working in an Open Office – (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41542-025-00246-x)
Source-Eurekalert