Purpose -Relocation is a significant event in the course of an organization's lifetime. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the impacts that relocation has on the relocating organization itself and to identify the economic, social, and environmental impacts of office occupier relocation. Design/methodology/approach -Drawing from the existing literature on impacts of occupiers' relocation, a conceptual framework for modelling organizational relocation impacts is developed. The literature review is done by a systematic review of the ten most relevant journals within the corporate real estate, property, and facilities sector. Findings -Relocation has various impacts including relocation costs, disruption, employee reactions to change, altered lease attributes, and changed environmental footprint. Further, the changes in productivity, employee satisfaction, employee turnover, organizational dynamics, ways of working, commuting, accessibility for external stakeholders, and organizational culture and image are all possible impacts of organizational relocation.Research limitations/implications -The identified impacts are limited to office occupiers' short distance relocations. As the paper is conceptual by nature, there is a need for more empirical research on the impacts of relocation. The framework introduced in the article requires testing with experiences of relocated case companies and accordingly, it is to be developed further. Practical implications -The paper provides central questions that relocating organizations should ask themselves. Originality/value -Using the perspective of the relocating organization, the paper provides insight into the impacts of relocation from the expanded spectrum of Triple Bottom Line of sustainability. The study is of value to corporate real estate researchers and practitioners.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of the management of office relocations in Finnish organisations with a focus on the use of, and need for, external advisory services. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a sequential mixed method approach. First, the use of relocation-related services, and organisations’ perception of the need for them, was assessed through a questionnaire sent to all organisations with more than 50 employees in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA). The data includes 83 responses. Subsequently, service experiences, perceived service needs, and the challenges that organisations face in relocation are studied through thematic interviews with 15 organisations that have recently relocated. Findings – The findings show that, despite facing many challenges when relocating, many organisations do not consider using external service providers. Most organisations do not acknowledge the complexity of the process until afterwards, and they also lack knowledge of the availability of relocation-related services. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation is the population size of the questionnaire. A larger population would have allowed for more generalisations, but the results do provide insight into the organisations’ issues in managing their relocations. Practical implications – In order to facilitate the better organisational relocation experiences, and to develop the market for relocation-related services, service providers need to begin educating organisations of the challenges and opportunities of relocation, and successively increase the awareness of the availability of services. Originality/value – Relocation, when it is considered in the literature, is most often construed as being about location, or site selection. This study approaches the phenomenon from the organisations’ perspective and considers relocation a process that needs to be managed.

Purpose -The paper aims to identify the differences and similarities in work environment preferences of office users of different age. Design/methodology/approach -The paper analyses results of a preference survey answered by more than 1,100 office employees in Finland. The survey included questions concerning user preferences in terms of location, buildings, workspaces, and services. The analysis starts with a principal component analysis (PCA). The respondents are divided into five clusters based on their year of birth, and their responses are compared based on regression analysis. The identified differences are confirmed by discriminant analysis. Findings -The study shows that there are differences in the work environment preferences of users of different age. Significant differences were found concerning personal services, commuting, collaboration, restaurant services, and adjustability of indoor climate. The study also identifies areas in which preferences between younger and older employees did not differ remarkably, such as privacy and the virtual environment. Research limitations/implications -While the study indicates that there are preference differences in the workforce as it currently exists, it does not explain whether the identified differences are connected to generations, or if they are simply a result of age and experience. Practical implications -The paper includes findings that are valuable for all parties that are involved in designing and managing work environments. Originality/value -The results give new insights on what office users of different age prefer in their work environments. The paper proposes that some general notions regarding generational differences in the workplace lack academic evidence, and presents results that suggest that the differences are not as significant as generally thought.

PurposeThe work environment has been identified to influence employee satisfaction and work performance. In order to develop and provide work environments that meet the preferences of as many employees as possible, more information about user preferences and possible preference differences between different kinds of users is required. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding concerning office users' work environment preferences. The aim is to investigate whether there are differences in the preferences of office users based on their age, gender, their mobility, and whether they work individually or with others.Design/methodology/approachOffice users' work environment preferences are studied through a survey directed to office employees. Statistical analysis is used in order to identify work environment preference differences between respondents of different age, gender, and the way they work.FindingsThe results indicate that there are differences between office users' work environment preferences concerning some characteristics of the work environment. The results show that the preferences vary both based on demographic issues such as age and gender as well as based on how they work.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited to the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland, so the cultural context has to be taken into account when generalising the results.Originality/valueThe paper provides several stakeholders, such as user organisations, designers, consultants, and investors, valuable information on what kind of work environments office users prefer.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand how the youngest generation at work perceives problems that are linked to open‐plan offices. They are the future users of the work environments and thus it is important to understand how they perceive different office solutions. The paper looks at one specific type of job and one group of office employees: generation Y – those born in the 1980s and early 1990s – working in a contact centre environment.Design/methodology/approachThe research was carried out as a case study. In total, 20 thematic interviews were conducted among the representatives of generation Y from three different sites of one big Finnish telecommunications company. The themes of the interviews were outlined by a thorough literature review concerning problems that are often linked to open office solutions.FindingsThe findings suggest that in this case, the generation Y employees in fact liked their open‐plan office. They acknowledged most of the issues or “problems” that the literature suggests, but they did not necessarily see these purely in a negative way. Instead, they often perceived these issues as fair trade‐offs for some greater good. This result supports the idea that open‐plan offices are complex and interrelated systems where all parts affect the others.Research limitation/implicationsThe main limitation of this research is the small sample size. The results cannot be generalized to all young office employees; rather, they are intended to give a first in‐depth insight into the experiences of one specific group of users in the complex interrelated open‐plan office system.Originality/valueThe paper's findings add to the understanding about how generation Y perceives their work environment. The research also highlights a limitation in earlier open‐plan offices and suggests that future research needs to take a broader perspective on this complex system.