Multi-generational workforce as a user group: a study on office environments

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2009

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Erel, Erinç

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Today, as a result of the improvements especially in the area of medical sciences, conditions of life have changed and the work period has been prolonged. Currently more than one generation has been living together, and even working together. In recent years, it is observed that generationally diverse environments and product or services addressing multi-generational user groups have attracted the attention of particularly the marketing sector and this attention to the generational diversity has become a trend in the design field just as it has in many other areas. This study analyses the design assets of the office environments from the perspective of the important characteristic of the workforce, namely the generational diversity. Designing the office environment by taking only the current and future generations into consideration is not a sufficient way anymore. So, office designers are expected to consider also the older generations existing at the same environment. This trend towards generational diversity has started with the designs and arrangements of home environments; later, due to the advantages it has provided for the organizations’ success, it has gradually spread towards the designs of office environments. In this study, the work habits of generations have been analyzed initially and then it has been related to the office environments and work cultures. At the end of the study, the effects of multi-generational workforce on the office environment design assets have been discussed.

Subject Keywords

Industrial design.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12611328/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/19210

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis

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Citation Formats

E. Erel, “Multi-generational workforce as a user group: a study on office environments,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2009.