New Steelcase Study Reveals How Workers Organize Their Workspace

Does the image of paper piles, frayed files, and lopsided labels make you cringe? If so, you are not alone. Thirty-three percent of office workers say they are "neat freaks," according to the Steelcase Workplace Index, a semi-annual survey that gauges workplace trends in the United States.

Younger (18 to 34 years) and older (55 years and up) workers are most likely to feel they are "neat freaks" (40% and 37%). Middle-aged workers (35 to 54 years) tend to be "pilers."

Lack of Elbow Room May be a Factor in Keeping Organized

"Being organized today is a greater challenge than in the past," explains Christine Albertini, director of storage for Steelcase Inc., the world's leading designer and manufacturer of high performance work environments. "The sheer volume of information available is increasing at an incredible rate, and workers often feel overwhelmed and out of control because of it. Also, team meeting spaces have increased and individual workspace size has decreased. This means that office workers must use their workspaces, including storage, more efficiently than before."

Each day, American office workers spend an average of 20.1 minutes organizing their work areas. According to the Steelcase study, most people ages 18 to 54 spend between six and 30 minutes organizing and straightening their work area each day, while people 55 and above spend 15 minutes or under.

Where Do We Put it All?

"Paper usage is increasing even though much of our information is being stored electronically. Plus, workers need to store disks and other media besides paper, so storage is even more of a necessity today," continues Albertini. Curbing the paper trail appears to be easier for office workers under age 55, as these employees limit their paper-only storage to about one-third of all their information, while workers 55 years and older store an average of 40.4 percent of their information on paper only.

Although storage space often appears scarce, 56 percent of office workers believe that they and their co-workers use storage and filing furniture "very" or "pretty" effectively.

About the Survey

Steelcase Inc. commissioned a study from an East Coast based research firm as a part of a weekly omnibus survey. The study was conducted among a nationally representative sample of 2,096 employed adults (1,155 men and 941 women) 18 years of age or older living in the continental United States. The Steelcase Workplace Index results are based on 948 participants (483 male and 465 female) who are employed full or part time and work in offices and are 18 years of age and older living in the continental United States.

Source: Steelcase Workplace Index Survey, October, 1998