The Reorganization of Workspaces in Italian SMEs after the COVID-19 Pandemic: Emerging Trends and Employee Preferences

Journal title WELFARE E ERGONOMIA
Author/s Marino Pezzolo
Publishing Year 2025 Issue 2025/1
Language Italian Pages 16 P. 233-248 File size 104 KB
DOI 10.3280/WE2025-001016
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

This study investigates how Italian small and medium-sized enterprises have reorganized their physical workspaces in the post-pandemic context, focusing on the factors influencing spatial decisions and employees’ lived experiences. Based on a qualitative analysis of ninety semi-structured interviews conducted in thirty SMEs across different sectors and geographical areas, the research reveals a widespread shift toward hybrid configurations that combine shared areas with private spaces. Spatial arrangements are shaped by organizational culture, available resources, the nature of tasks, and workers’ living conditions. The study offers practical implications for human resource management and contributes to the workplace design literature by shedding light on SMEs, an organizational segment that remains underexplored in the international discourse on post-COVID work environments.

Keywords: workplace design; Italian SMEs; open space; COVID-1; collaboration; employee wellbeing.

  1. Allen T.D., Golden T.D. and Shockley K.M. (2015). How Effective Is Telecommuting? Assessing the Status of Our Scientific Findings. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 16(2): 40-68. DOI: 10.1177/1529100615593273
  2. Appel-Meulenbroek R. and Danivska V. (2021). A Handbook of Theories on Designing Alignment Between People and the Office Environment. In: A Handbook of Theories on Designing Alignment Between People and the Office Environment. CRC Press. DOI: 10.1201/9781003128830
  3. Brunia S., De Been I. and van der Voordt T.J.M. (2016). Accommodating new ways of working: lessons from best practices and worst cases. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 18(1): 30-47. DOI: 10.1108/JCRE-10-2015-0028
  4. Butera F. (2020). Le condizioni organizzative e professionali dello smart working dopo l’emergenza: progettare il lavoro ubiquo fatto di ruoli aperti e di professioni a larga banda. Studi Organizzativi, XXII(1): 141-165. DOI: 10.3280/SO2020-001006
  5. Carbonara N. e Pellegrino R. (2021). Lo Smart Working. Da pratica sperimentale a nuova normalità. FrancoAngeli.
  6. Danielsson B.C. and Bodin L. (2008). Office type in relation to health, well-being, and job satisfaction among employees. Environment and Behavior, 40(5): 636-668. DOI: 10.1177/0013916507307459
  7. Donati S., Viola G., Toscano F. e Zappalà S. (2021). Not All Remote Workers Are Similar: Technology Acceptance, Remote Work Beliefs, and Wellbeing of Remote Workers during the Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(22). DOI: 10.3390/IJERPH182212095
  8. Flyvbjerg B. (2006). Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2): 219-245. DOI: 10.1177/1077800405284363
  9. Great Place to Work. (2023). Great Place to Work Italia. -- https://www.greatplacetowork.it/ classifiche-migliori-aziende.
  10. Heeroma D.M., Melissen F.W. and Stierand M.B. (2012). The problem of addressing culture in workplace strategies. Facilities, 30(7): 269-277. DOI: 10.1108/02632771211220077
  11. Hua Y., Loftness V., Heerwagen J.H. and Powell K.M. (2010). Relationship Between Workplace Spatial Settings and Occupant-Perceived Support for Collaboration. Environment and Behavior, 43(6): 807-826. DOI: 10.1177/0013916510364465
  12. Kniffin K.M., Narayanan J., Anseel F., Antonakis J., Ashford S.P., Bakker A.B., Bamberger P., Bapuji H., Bhave D.P., Choi V.K., Creary S.J., Demerouti E., Flynn F.J., Gelfand M.J., Greer L.L., Johns G., Kesebir S., Klein P.G., Lee S.Y., … Vugt M. van. (2021). COVID-19 and the workplace: Implications, issues, and insights for future research and action. American Psychologist, 76(1): 63-77. DOI: 10.1037/AMP0000716
  13. Maric J., Aleksandra D., Antonic B., Furundzic D. and Parezanin V. (2021). The Effects of Open Space on Reducing Workplace Stress: Case Study of Business Park in the Post-Socialist Urban Setting. Sustainability, 13(1), 336. DOI: 10.3390/SU13010336
  14. Mariotti I., Di Marino M. and Bednár P. (2022). The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Future of Working Spaces. Taylor & Francis. DOI: 10.4324/9781003181163
  15. Mariotti I. and Pacchi C. (2021). Coworkers and Coworking Spaces as Urban Transformation Actors. An Italian Perspective. In: Mariotti I., Di Vita S. and Akhavan M., editors, New Workplaces - Location Patterns, Urban Effects and Development Trajectories, 53-63. Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-63443-8_4
  16. Nejad H.G., Nejad F.G. and Farahani T. (2021). Adaptability and Workplace Subjective Well-Being: The Effects of Meaning and Purpose on Young Workers in the Workplace. Canadian Journal of Career Development, 20(2). DOI: 10.53379/CJCD.2021.70
  17. Osservatorio Smart Working (2019). Smart Working davvero: la flessibilità non basta.
  18. Pezzolo M. (2023). Flexible Work Arrangement nelle grandi imprese italiane dopo il Covid-19. In: M. Occhipinti, M. Basile, V. Pantaleo e Di Cataldo, a cura di, Le sfide della contemporaneità: approcci disciplinari per uno sguardo multiprospettico. IPS Edizioni.
  19. Pezzolo M., Del Baldo M. e Ascoli U. (2024). L’impatto della digitalizzazione sui servizi di welfare nelle PMI italiane. Sociologia Del Lavoro, 169: 152-172. DOI: 10.3280/SL2024-169008
  20. Pierrette M., Parizet E., Chevret P. and Chatillon J. (2014). Noise effect on comfort in open-space offices: development of an assessment questionnaire. Ergonomics, 58(1): 96-106. DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2014.961972
  21. Ropo A., Sauer E. and Salovaara P. (2013). Embodiment of leadership through material place. Leadership, 9(3): 378-395. DOI: 10.1177/1742715013485858
  22. Spence L.J. (1999). Does size matter? The state of the art in small business ethics. Business Ethics: A European Review, 8(3). DOI: 10.1111/BEER.1999.8.ISSUE-3
  23. Spence L.J. and Rutherfoord R. (2003). Small Business and Empirical Perspectives in Business Ethics: Editorial. Journal of Business Ethics, 47(1): 1-5. DOI: 10.1023/A:1026205109290
  24. Spreitzer G., Bacevice P. and Garrett L. (2019). Workplace design, the physical environment, and human thriving at work. In: O.B. Ayoko and N.M. Ashkanasy, editors, Organizational Behaviour and the Physical Environment, 235-250. Taylor and Francis. DOI: 10.4324/9781315167237-13
  25. Van Der Voordt T.J.M. (2004). Productivity and employee satisfaction in flexible workplaces. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 6(2): 133-148. DOI: 10.1108/14630010410812306
  26. Welfare PMI Index. (2023). Welfare aziendale per le Piccole e Medie Imprese. -- https://www.welfareindexpmi.it/welfare-index-pmi/.
  27. Worthington J. (2006). New Patterns of Work. The Design of the Office. In: J. Worthington, editor, Reinventing the Workplace, 29-49. Routledge.
  28. Yin R.K. (2018). Case study research and applications: design and methods (6th ed.). Sage Publications.

Marino Pezzolo, La riorganizzazione degli spazi di lavoro nelle PMI italiane dopo la pandemia di COVID-19: tendenze e preferenze emergenti in "WELFARE E ERGONOMIA" 1/2025, pp 233-248, DOI: 10.3280/WE2025-001016