Major
Business Administration
Anticipated Graduation Year
2022
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Professionals in America spend five days a week, an average of 40 hours, in an office environment. These same people tailor their homes to be comfortable oases that inspire happiness, but is this same effort being made for these office spaces they somewhat call home especially after the COVID-19 pandemic? The question our team set out to ask is as follows: Should companies prioritize investing in better working environments with a focus to increase employee wellbeing and mental health? We use New York City and Chicago as subjects in our analysis to find a relationship between building aesthetics and employee wellbeing/mental health. Using WELL-certified square feet per resident, substance abuse, mental illness, happiness, and stress statistics, we paint a picture of how the work environment affects employees through a multi-method approach. Starting with the empirical analysis, we found two statistically significant correlations, however, these are not intuitive and in line with our literature review. Our normative analysis led to actionable insights surrounding the design of office spaces to benefit employees.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Anne Reilly, Professor
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Wellness in the Workplace: An Analysis on the Office Environment and Mental Health in Chicago and NYC
Professionals in America spend five days a week, an average of 40 hours, in an office environment. These same people tailor their homes to be comfortable oases that inspire happiness, but is this same effort being made for these office spaces they somewhat call home especially after the COVID-19 pandemic? The question our team set out to ask is as follows: Should companies prioritize investing in better working environments with a focus to increase employee wellbeing and mental health? We use New York City and Chicago as subjects in our analysis to find a relationship between building aesthetics and employee wellbeing/mental health. Using WELL-certified square feet per resident, substance abuse, mental illness, happiness, and stress statistics, we paint a picture of how the work environment affects employees through a multi-method approach. Starting with the empirical analysis, we found two statistically significant correlations, however, these are not intuitive and in line with our literature review. Our normative analysis led to actionable insights surrounding the design of office spaces to benefit employees.