Sick leave is associated with shared/open-space offices

TLDR: Employees working in share/open-space offices tend to take 60%+ more sick days than employees in private offices.

The research was done with 2,000 Dutch white-collar employees, and the methodology controlled for age, job seniority, income, health, etc. The researchers suggest 5 explanations for the increase in sick leave -

1. Shared offices have more environment noise, and this leads to increased stress and tension. But this factor impacts men, and doesn't hold up as well for women.

2. Shared offices tend to use mechanical ventilation, while private offices tend to open windows for fresh air. But this didn't hold up for shared offices with windows.

3. Shared offices expose inhabitants to more viruses and bacteria from other people. This could explain why people take 50% more sickies whether they share the office with 1 person or 10.

4. Shared offices may cause psychosocial/cultural and privacy issues for people. But there is no strong evidence supporting or contradicting that.

5. Shared offices can reduce employees’ autonomy if their co-workers and leaders interfere too often. Lack of autonomy may be a stressor, as it is related to burnout.