The demands and resources arising from shared office spaces

The prevalence of flexible and shared office spaces is increasing significantly, yet the socioemotional outcomes associated with these environments are under researched. Utilising the job demands-resources (JD-R) model we investigate both the demands and the resources that can accrue to workers as a result of shared work environments and hot-desking. Data were collected from work experienced respondents (n = 1000) assessing the extent to which they shared their office space with others, along with demands comprising distractions, uncooperative behaviours, distrust, and negative relationships, and resources from co-worker friendships and supervisor support. We found that, as work environments became more shared (with hot-desking being at the extreme end of the continuum), not only were there increases in demands, but co-worker friendships were not improved and perceptions of supervisory support decreased. Findings are discussed in relation to employee well-being and recommendations are made regarding how best to ameliorate negative consequences of shared work environments.