Amid pandemic, bathroom hygiene biggest worry for Israelis back at work – survey

As Israelis go back to work after lockdowns amid concerns about coronavirus infection, the thing that most concerns them is hygiene in the bathroom, a new survey by co-working real estate firm Mindspace Ltd. shows.

The survey was conducted polling over 1,000 members of the office spaces provided by the Israeli firm across its sites in the UK, the US, Europe and Israel — revealing anxieties, intentions and changing habits as employees in the Western world begin to return to the office.

Forty percent of the 200 Israeli respondents said their biggest concern in the office environment was going to the bathroom, while 60% of workers said that in lockdown they missed being around their colleagues and 40% said they missed face-to-face meetings more than anything else.

Over half, 57%, of Mindspace Israeli members indicated they had already returned to the office, with just under a third, 27%, indicating they would be going back in the next 4-8 weeks. Just below half of them, 48%, either have returned or are planning to return for a full five-day workweek, with 43% returning for 2-3 days a week.

Over a third of Israeli workers, 37%, take public transportation to get to their Mindspace offices, located in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Herzliya, but 41% of these either have changed or intend to change this method of commute. Just 14% walk and 14% ride a bike, while 35% use a car. Of these, hardly anyone said they’ll change their commute methods.

Key findings across Mindspace’s other global members, including in the US, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland showed that the top concern is not being protected enough, as coworkers are not taking social distancing seriously and they are unable to social distance while working. Of the respondents, 65% ranked at least one of these factors as their biggest concern.

In Germany, 33% of workers indicated they had already returned to work from the office, with another 40% indicating they are going back in the next four to eight weeks. In Poland and Romania, 27% indicated they had already returned, with another 42% indicating they were going back in the next four to eight weeks.

Mindspace said it was proceeding with plans to open its third London site on July 1 in Hammersmith.

“We are implementing a new health and safety standard across all 31 of our locations in 7 countries, according to each country’s regulations, eliminating the ‘Covid headache’ for our tenants,” said Mindspace CEO Dan Zakai in a statement released on Tuesday.