Unseen consequences: the effect of activity-based work environments on work recovery

• A research on Activity-Based Work (ABW) environments and the effect of implementation on work recovery. • A longitudinal study, a workplace surveyed three times on a 12-month period. • Results show that ABW has negative effect on employee ability to recover after work. • Those who show lower workspace satisfaction struggle more than others. Leaders implementing activity-based work environments seek benefits for their organizations. These include increasing employee activities such as communication, collaboration, and innovation and reducing housing expenses. While there are several benefits to implementing an activity-based work environment, research has highlighted various issues related to employee well-being in such environments. These include increased noise and distraction, reduced privacy, and heightened workplace stress. This study focuses on a novel issue concerning employee well-being by investigating how an activity-based work environment influences work recovery. Using a longitudinal design, we examine a public sector workplace whose employees were surveyed three times during the implementation of an activity-based work environment. Our results show that satisfaction with activity-based work environments plays an important role in well-being outside work. In contrast, employees less satisfied with activity-based environments are more likely to face difficulties recovering from work. Directions for further research and the implications of these results for organizations are discussed.