how office noise may be forcing women to work from home
as hybrid working has become the norm, the differences in how and when people like to work have become apparent.
For some people, heading into the office on a Monday is a way to kick-start the week productively; for others, Wednesday is the best day to be in the thick of things at the office.
This International Women’s Day, it’s worth considering how different genders carry out their hybrid working routine – and the impact of a post-COVID world on women’s pay, opportunities and wellbeing in the workplace.
pro-hybrid or pro-office – how women’s work from home experience differs
There are mixed views on the impact of hybrid working on women’s careers. With female staff more likely than men to choose flexible hours or home working for childcare reasons, male staff are, in some cases, spending much more time working in the office. As many as 60% of female hybrid workers reported feeling worried that this impacted their career progression.
Conversely, in a BBC survey, just over half of women (56%) felt that working from home would in fact help them to progress at work by alleviating the stress of childcare and caring duties compared to working full time.
The perception of hybrid working also varies by age; young women (18-24) express the most positivity about working from home, with 65% believing it benefits their careers, while women 45+ were less enthused.
sound effects
It’s not just working hours that can impact women in different ways to men; the noise levels in an office can have a greater impact on female staff. Oscar Acoustics research found that nearly a quarter of women chose to work from home due to excessive noise in the workplace making it harder to focus.
Many women also reported changing their work patterns in an effort to avoid office noise and increase their productivity. Strikingly, fewer men reported taking the same action, suggesting that a loud workspace may impact women more than their male counterparts at work.
Either way, a noisy office space is more than just an irritating distraction for workers: it can impact productivity, wellbeing and even physical health. While spacious, open-plan offices may look stunning, the reality for those needing to focus can be that – without the right consideration of the space’s acoustics – noise reverberates and creates a less-than-ideal working environment.
office acoustics solved with SonaSpray
SonaSpray is a decorative acoustic spray that can transform echoing, open offices into calmer, quieter spaces. By absorbing sound energy instead of reflecting it, SonaSpray reduces reverberation times to effectively cut the level of noise in any space, from retail and commercial to sports halls and classrooms.
Easily applied to flat or curved surfaces, available in a range of colours and with built-in treatments for fire and mould resistance, SonaSpray is adaptable for any location.
As well as dampening reverberation, SonaSpray can also reduce rain noise and thermal noise – all for a typically lower cost than fixed acoustic panel systems.