North workers happy – as long as they’re warm

Apr 9 2008 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

IT might come as a surprise that a region which shuns coats in the most severe of snowstorms moans most about being too cold in the workplace.

A new survey reveals that workplace temperature is considered to be of utmost importance to workers in the North East (rated by 87% to be important to very important), higher than seen in any other region in the UK. In fact, temperature was rated as the most important aspect of North East working life, ranking above salary, job security and length of commute.

‘What Workers Want’, a report by Savills based on a survey carried out by YouGov, reveals the views of 4,570 UK employees in offices, shops and warehouses. It reports that aside from the more obvious demands such as salary and job security, workers are primarily concerned with workplace conditions such as temperature and comfort of the work area.

While the length of commute was ranked as one of the 10 most important features, it received a lower rating in the North East than in any other region, with only 74% considering it as important (the national average is 79%). This is likely to be due to the fact that respondents in the region enjoy the shortest commute in the UK, averaging 22 minutes.

So there must be some method in our madness then.

We can’t be bothered with covering up as we don’t have far to travel anyway!