Abstract
Health is a critical factor for the generation of value by workers. Companies bear substantial costs associated with absenteeism and presenteeism among their employees. This study investigates the impact of the environmental conditions in the workplace on the health and job satisfaction of employees, as core factors of productivity. We provide evidence based on a natural experiment, in which 70% of the workforce of a municipality in the Netherlands was relocated to a building with a design focused on sustainability and health and well-being. We construct a longitudinal dataset based on individual surveys of the entire municipality workforce and include measures before and after the move. The estimation results show a significant improvement in the perceived environmental conditions, as well as in the health and well-being of the relocated workers, measured by the drop in incidence of sick building syndrome symptoms. Results are heterogeneous based on age: older groups of employees enjoy larger health impacts. The relocation effects remain persistent in the medium term (two years after the moving date). Importantly, a mediation analysis suggests that the achieved improvements in health and well-being lead to significantly enhanced job satisfaction and a 2% reduction in the prevalence of sick leave.
Highlights
Workers represent a critical input factor for the modern firm, but our understanding of the effects of workplace environmental conditions on human performance is limited
Increasing evidence shows job satisfaction translates into higher productivity for workers and higher value for companies [29]
This study investigates the impact of the indoor environmental conditions in the workplace on the health and job satisfaction of employees, as core factors of productivity
Summary
Workers represent a critical input factor for the modern firm, but our understanding of the effects of workplace environmental conditions on human performance is limited. Poor indoor air quality in the form of high levels of CO2 or pollutants has been linked to the prevalence of absenteeism, sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms [3], and reduced cognitive performance of workers [4; 5]. The installation of green walls has been associated with an improvement in outdoor and indoor air quality, transforming carbon dioxide (CO2) into oxygen, and filtering fine particles from outdoor sources of pollution [18]. The air enters the building at the top, where it is oxygenated by plants and brought to the bottom of the building, from where the purified air circulates naturally throughout the building using physical principles rather than mechanical ventilation systems
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