Office workers in Helsinki have more space than in many other European cities
Helsinki offices have three times more space per employee than those in Moscow
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An office employee in Helsinki has an average amount of working space that is equivalent to that of a small one-room flat.
A Moscow office worker has to get by with a space the size of a small bedroom.
The international real estate consulting company DTZ conducted an analysis recently on the amount of office space in different countries.
According to the study, office space per employee was an average 23.4 square metres in Helsinki, which is more than in any other large Euroepan country. By global comparison, only Washington DC had more office space per employee.
Moscow has the most crowded offices, where workers have only 7.8 square metres on average.
“There can be some slight discrepancies in the research results, but they are in the right direction”, says Raul von Denffer at DTZ Finland.
Possible discrepancies stem from the fact that office space is calculated in different ways in different countries. There can be differences in which parts of an office are included in the total surface area.
The rent level alone does not explain why Helsinki offices have such ample space. Although office rents are relatively low in Helsinki, the costs of using office space are about average.
“The working culture is one reason. In Finland people want to work on their own”, von Denffer says.
“Another reason is that we have plenty of old buildings used as offices, where the use of space is less efficient than in newer buildings.”
Consultant Kimmo Setkänen of Pöyry Architects agrees.
“In Finland many companies have not yet started using open offices. Only an open office makes it possible to get below 20 square metres per person.”
The ongoing upheaval in office work is nevertheless reducing the size of office space in Helsinki as well.
“For instance, in the IT business and in sales, mobile work is increasing sharply”, Setkänen says.
When a larger amount of work can be done from home or during travel, fewer people are at work at the same time. The number of work centres can be reduced.
Pekka Talaskivi of Rapal agrees.
“The user of a desktop computer is tied down to a certain work space. Now that there are laptops everywhere, shared work spaces are possible.”
Less office space naturally cuts costs for businesses. Consequently, the economic downturn is likely to speed up the trend for greater office space efficiency.
“During the previous recession, many companies went bankrupt, because they built big office premises, which they then could not get rid of”, Talaskivi says.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 23.6.2009 - TODAY |
 Office workers in Helsinki have more space than in many other European cities |
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