Top 3 wishes of working people: accessibility by public transport, an adjustable workstation and a room of your own

Asked to name three things they would wish to have in their ideal workplace, Finnish city dwellers put accessibility by public transport (47%), an adjustable workstation and desk (43%) and a room of your own (42%) at the top of the list.

These are results from the Sustainable Urban Environments 2019 barometer**, a survey of more than one thousand Finnish city dwellers conducted by YIT and Prior Konsultointi in autumn 2019. The barometer survey, conducted now for the second time, aims to reveal the types of urban environments people in Finland wish to see developed. The participating city dwellers express their views on themes such as home, urban environment, transport and retail.

In addition to the three wishes mentioned above, the survey respondents were also offered the following options: offices with quiet areas where you can concentrate on your work (33%), a workplace restaurant that serves convenient and affordable lunch (28%), parking at the workplace for people who drive to work (26%), the premises having meeting places for getting together with other people (16%), good shower facilities and changing rooms for people who commute e.g. by bicycle (13%), a lot of local daily services such as a supermarket or laundry shop at the workplace or in its vicinity (12%), and a lot of facilities or services related to hobbies, such as a gym, at the workplace or in its vicinity (10%).

The section of the barometer that concerned work revealed that walking and cycling are by far the most popular options for commuting short distances of less than three kilometers. Public transport was the most popular option for commutes of 4–15 kilometers. When the commuting distance exceeds 15 kilometres, the working respondents start to show a preference for driving their own car to work. Having a workplace that is easily accessible by public transport was rated more highly by women than men, while using a car to commute was popular among respondents representing families with children.

Nearly half (46%) of the respondents in the barometer survey who have office jobs (n=397) want to work remotely as much as possible, while over one-third (38%) want to be at the workplace and meet as many people as possible. The proportion of people who prefer to work remotely has increased from 2018, when 39% of respondents indicated they like to work remotely as much as possible, and 42% said they want to be physically present at the workplace.

This finding is also supported by a recent survey conducted by Taloustutkimus on behalf of Yle (April 5, 2020), which indicated that more than a million Finns have started to work remotely during the coronavirus crisis and approximately half of them want to continue to work remotely either completely or almost completely in the future.

*(n=649 / working respondents)

**Sustainable Urban Environments barometer 2019
The Sustainable Urban Environments barometer survey was conducted for the second time in 2019. The survey is targeted at the residents of eight cities: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä and Kuopio. The data was collected by an online panel administered by CINT Ab during September 16–27, 2019. The number of respondents was 1,022. The sample is representative of the 18–75-year-old population of the participating cities in terms of respondents’ age, gender and the size of each city.

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For further information, please contact:
Johanna Savolainen, Communications Manager, YIT Corporation, tel. +358 44 305 4594, johanna.savolainen@yit.fi
 

YIT is the largest Finnish and significant North European construction company. We develop and build apartments and living services, business premises and entire areas. We are also specialised in demanding infrastructure construction. Together with our customers, our nearly 8,000 professionals are creating more functional, attractive and sustainable cities and environments. We operate in 10 countries: Finland, Russia, Sweden, Norway, the Baltic countries, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. Our revenue in 2019 was approximately EUR 3.4 billion. YIT Corporation's share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Oy. www.yitgroup.com