The UK Workplace: Nowhere to Hide
Four in 10 UK workers reported more conflicts in today’s offices. Could traditional open-plan settings be a cause?
The awkwardness was constant, but hard to prove. In a London marketing team, conversations stopped when one employee approached the shared bench. She was “accidentally” left off the calendar invitations for meetings a few desks away. Her mistakes were discussed loudly, but never directly. The same two people chose seats near hers whenever they had long calls. Everyone was visible, and somehow the problem was harder to see.
As British employers try to make the office worth the commute, including offsetting rising costs from gas, the open-plan bet is becoming more complicated. According to a survey from the National Center for Social Research last year, 44% of 4,500 workers had experienced conflict at work in the previous 12 months, the highest level of individual workplace conflict ever reported in a Great Britain worker survey. Among those reporting conflict, 24% said it involved bullying, discrimination, or harassment, and 57% said conflict caused stress, anxiety, or depression.
The office itself may not create bad behavior, experts say, but it can remove the buffers that keep irritation from becoming a pattern. In an open-plan space, the gum chewing, nail tapping, loud Teams call, or whispered side conversations can stir up emotions, and the close surroundings can add to bullying. “When people have no place to go, some are going to bully others,” says Edith Udemezue, a Korn Ferry senior client partner and the life sciences market leader, EMEA for professional search.
In March 2026, the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest published an article backing this up, which summarized research originally published in Occupational Health Science. The study, based on a nationally representative probability sample of 3,307 Swedish workers, found a significantly higher risk of bullying in open offices than in private or smaller shared offices. The risk was concentrated in traditional open-plan layouts, not in activity-based offices with spaces for different tasks; traditional open-plan layouts were associated with a 67% higher risk.
The findings come at an important inflection point for UK leaders, who feel that in-office collaboration is important for success. More than six in 10 firms now have mandates requiring a minimum level of office attendance, yet the UK lags the global average for the number of days workers come into the office. Experts say leaders need to address issues that come up in the workplace, since many workers spent so long away from the office. “In the end, it comes down to company culture,” says Stuart Richards, a Korn Ferry sector leader responsible for driving the Consumer proposition for the firm’s professional search across the UK and EMEA.
Office noise is a factor too. A 2025 Census-wide survey of 2,000 UK business professionals for Oscar Acoustics found that 56% described their workplaces as noisy, and fewer than one in three felt their surroundings fully supported productivity. Thirty-six percent said they work from home to escape office noise, while one in five reported conflicts caused by noise-related tensions with coworkers. Meanwhile, the social dynamics can be just as loud. Everyone can see who is invited into a huddle room, who is asked to lunch, and who sits alone with headphones on. A survey of 2,000 UK office workers by BW: Workplace Experts found that one in three had an issue with lack of privacy in the office, while 34% ranked meeting rooms, breakout areas, and social spaces among the most valuable office features.
Experts say the answer is not necessarily a return to private offices. The British Council for Offices has recommended 10 square meters per person for general workspace, partly to allow a broader mix of settings for hybrid work. Cardiff-linked acoustics research similarly notes that quiet areas, partitions, sound-absorbing materials, and acoustic etiquette can reduce distraction and improve well-being in open-plan offices. “There are often some growing pains, but it can be hugely positive,” Udemezue says.
The practical challenge for leaders is cultural as much as architectural. Managers need to know that the open floor plan can hide exclusion in plain sight. They need to watch patterns, intervene early, and make retreat spaces more acceptable. “Leaders need to act when they see bullying in the office,” Richards says.
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