The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every industry, but the IT sector hasn’t suffered a significant blow. Quite the opposite, IT and tech jobs have become more popular while jobs in industries like entertainment or travel have disappeared.
But working in a relaxed, remote environment, away from a crowded office, has made tech pros rethink their priorities.
According to the US IT Salary Survey, IT professionals say that work-life balance is the most important to them today. Reassessing how work fits into their life has compelled many to find a place to focus on their tasks while improving physical and mental health.
With remote and hybrid work taking center stage, many tech workers choose to keep working from home and enjoy better flexibility, freedom, and productivity. Here are some of the most innovative workspaces transforming the remote IT workforce.
New types of home offices are emerging
Gallup found that 39% of US employees work exclusively from home, 42% enjoy hybrid work, and only 19% work entirely on-site.
Moreover, 32% of employees wish to continue working remotely, while 59% prefer a hybrid work schedule.
Since remote work is here to stay, and hybrid is the remote IT workforce’s future, new types of home offices are emerging.
They include:
- A dedicated space within a room, typically in a living room
- A portable home office (a flexible desk you can move around to avoid distractions)
- A spare-bedroom-turned-office
- A garden office
Each is pretty popular, but garden offices are giving new meaning to remote work.
What is a garden office?
A garden office is a workspace in a garden. It’s a separate building detached from your home, offering a private space to work.
Many call it a posh shed because it’s typically a single room in a garden, but it’s a fully functional office to do all your work seamlessly.
Let’s see what makes this new type of office - a garden office - so attractive and desirable.
What makes garden offices so popular?
Besides being a flexible, cost-effective way to add extra space for your WFH (work-from-home) arrangement, a garden office provides several unique benefits.
Gardening is a great way to recharge
As you can imagine, IT workers are not interested only in tech. Many enjoy gardening, so a garden office is perfect for engaging in the hobby of caring for their plants, fruits, or vegetables during breaks. For example, Subramanyam D., an IBM (News - Alert) employee, is gardening in his garden office backyard growing tomatoes and spinach in his vegetable garden during breaks from work.
He is not the only one. Suresh Krishna, 29, a network engineer with HCL says that gardening for him is a much better way to reset and recharge than some other activities, like spending time on his smartphone.
We might add that the additional benefit is healthy, organic fresh food these workers are producing in their vegetable gardens. Healthy eating habits can come a long way in maintaining a healthy mind and body, and that is important for the employee and for the company as well.
In a garden office you can isolate your work from your home
Turning a spare bedroom into a home office is an option but certainly not the best one. For instance, children or pets may prevent you from focusing on work.
Another problem with merging work and home life is the trouble of getting into work mode because, after all, you’re in the comfort of your home. That primarily rings true if you don’t have a separate room as an office.
Working in a standalone building in your garden allows you to separate work from home, enjoying complete privacy without distractions. You can focus on software development, testing, programming, troubleshooting, or other daily responsibilities.
There are companies that are offering ready-made, prebuilt garden offices that you just need to install in your garden. You can use them as the office, but also as family space.
Reap the health benefits in the garden office
Insufficient sun exposure has become a real public health problem. Studies are showing that insufficient sun exposure may be responsible for 340,000 deaths in the US and 480,000 deaths in Europe per year, and an increased incidence of various types of cancer.
IT and tech workers are definitely at the risk of becoming a part of these worrying statistics – but this is where garden office can help.
Spending time in the garden can positively impact your health; many studies have confirmed it over the years.
The most notable health benefit of more exposure to nature and sunlight is the increase of vitamin D levels in the body. Vitamin D can improve your immune system and sun exposure works like a natural mood booster since it increases serotonin levels in your body. These health benefits won’t make you a better developer but they will help you cope with stress at work.
Corporate gardens as a retreat
Some big companies like PepsiCo, Hillsboro's Intel, Google (News - Alert), Yahoo, Toyota have already discovered the benefits of gardening for their employees, and some of them have had corporate gardens for over a decade.
PepsiCo’s corporate garden has 58 plots where employees in tech and other departments grow herbs and vegetables near the office. They care for their plants when taking breaks or before or after work, soak up vitamin D, and share the crops with their coworkers at meal time.
Google’s new biophilic office will offer something similar. The tech giant plans to create a workspace focusing on nature and helping its employees work in an inspiring, eco-friendly environment while gardening between tasks.
Conclusion
"Gardening is a great way people can get away from their desk for a few minutes and check on their tomatoes.", said Dave Karlson from Hillsboro's Intel - a company that built a 32,000-square-foot employee community organic vegetable garden.
The goal of these gardens is to make employees happy and - of course - more productive.
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Annie Morton is an avid nature lover from rural Australia. After some international adventures, she settled in New York City where she currently works for Hoselink USA.
