Survey Reveals What Employees Want from Workplace Lighting

A new survey from Repro-light, a research project that supports the European lighting industry has revealed some interesting findings about what workplace end users want from their organisation's lighting. The findings are useful to businesses and organisations looking to upgrade their current lighting systems, highlighting requirements that they may not previously have considered beneficial to improve their working environment. Here are the main findings.

1. Lighting affects mood, vigilance and performance

Of the 1,100 employees surveyed in both office and industrial working environments, 90% said the lighting in the workplace affects their mood, 92% said lighting affects their vigilance and 87% said lighting affects their performance.

These are important figures as they show that the quality of light provided by an employer can impact employee wellbeing, operational safety and the productivity of the business. Indeed, the very high percentages indicate the extent to which lighting has an impact, this is not just a few employees affected, but the vast majority. In the survey, those most affected were those whose job is highly visual.

2. Most workers want lighting improved

The survey showed that 55% of employees thought that the current lighting in their workplaces was not good enough and needed improving. Interestingly, the figure was higher for full-time workers who spend much more time in the workplace and for older workers.

Of note here are workplaces where employees can use electronic devices, like smartphones and tablets, to control lighting. Here, 45% of employees disagreed that their workplace lighting needed improvement. This is in complete contrast to workplaces where no control over lighting could take place.

3. Workers want variable lighting

70% of those surveyed wanted lighting within the workplace to be variable, with 59% wanting more control over it. This indicates that some businesses keep the lighting too bright and intense, or alternatively, too dim.

Some workers wanted the lighting to adjust to the time of day (circadian lighting), some wanted increased access to natural daylight while others wanted the flexibility to use different types of task lighting, dependent on the work they were doing.

4. Looks are important to younger employees

Younger employees feel better and work better in spaces where the lighting design looks good. The aesthetics of how lighting is used to make the workspace feel more comfortable and user-friendly can make them more engaged and productive. This is especially the case for those working in offices. Those businesses looking to recruit and retain younger employees may see most value in aesthetic lighting design.

5. Most want lighting to change when it gets dark

A significant 80% of employees want their workplace lighting to change colour when it gets darker. Known as circadian or human-centric lighting, the use of LED bulbs enables the colour temperature of the bulb to become warmer and less intense in the same way that natural daylight does towards the end of the working day. Implementing this can improve employee wellbeing and their ability to sleep well.

In the survey, the younger the employees, the more they wanted this form of lighting arrangement put in place. While the figure for those aged 50 and over was 76%, the figure for the under 30s jumped to 85%.

6. Light not at the right brightness

40% of those surveyed said they were not happy with the brightness of their current workplace. They thought the workplace too dark to carry out their work effectively and, in some instances, safely. Another 12%, however, thought the lighting was consistently too bright; often the case when rows of overhead fluorescent tube lighting are all controlled by a single on-off switch.

There were major differences between office and industry workers. 60% of office workers were happy with the brightness with only 27% wanting higher brightness levels. However, less than half of industrial workers were satisfied with the brightness, with 30% wanting the workplace to be brighter to carry out the visual requirements of their jobs.

7. Most workers want smart lighting

Over 80% of users wanted to see smart lighting being installed in their workplaces. The reason for this is because they wanted intelligent lighting that adjusts to their personal needs, such as LEDs with smart sensors, and they want this process to be automated so that it can take place without manual adjustment affecting the carrying out of tasks.

Summing up

For organisations thinking of upgrading their lighting systems, often the first priorities are those of cost-effectiveness, safety and productivity. However, as you can see, the impact of lighting on the workforce is another important consideration and one that can improve employee satisfaction, productivity and wellbeing.