“There are more people than desks in the office” — Employee complains, but her boss asks her to just “come earlier” to book a seat

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean employee took to social media to share her concerns about “hot desking,” saying it created extra problems and stress for some workers.

“There aren’t enough desks because there’s more people than desks. One of the weeks, it was so crowded people had to sit at the big tables used for meetings/lunches and I just didn’t understand,” she expressed.

Moreover, she mentioned that there are many unspoken rules in hot desking. For instance, her boss insists she sits where she could “easily be seen.”

“The office has space elsewhere but as per most offices, the bosses want to ‘see you’ work instead of letting us sit elsewhere,” she said.

“I just want to get to my desk, work and then leave. Why the heck am I worrying if there’s a place for me to sit or not,” she lamented.

This issue has also been brought up to the company director’s attention. Unfortunately, no actions were taken, and the employees were simply told to ‘come earlier’ if they wanted to book a seat.

“Kinda lost faith in the director because clearly it’s not a long-term solution. If everyone starts coming at 8 instead of 8:30.. the problem is still there?? Isn’t the solution to either 1) add more seats or 2) assign tables ??

What’s the point of hotdesking if there aren’t enough seats and I’m not ‘allowed’ to sit elsewhere in the building?” she asked further.

“This is not a ‘hot desking in Singapore’ problem. This is a ‘hot desking at your company’ problem.”

In the comments section, Redditors explained that hot desking only works if the company carefully plans the schedules and workdays of all departments.

Without proper planning, everyone will likely come in on the same few days, causing the overcrowding problem. One Redditor shared that his company uses a booking system allowing employees to book a desk up to a week in advance.

They also have a flexible working policy where employees only need to be in the office twice a week.

“We only have enough desks for 80% of all staff, but because of these two policies, it’s pretty rare not to have a desk when you come into the office,” he explained.

He added, “99% of the time, you can still get a desk even without booking one; you just might not get one that you like.” Another Redditor pointed out that the issue wasn’t with hot desking in general but how her particular company handled it.

She said, “This is not a ‘hot desking in Singapore’ problem. This is a ‘hot desking at your company’ problem. If they are only going to provide enough space for x% of the staff, then they only want x% in the office every day. Work from home.”

A third Redditor echoed this sentiment and added, “I don’t think you hate hotdesking, you hate your idiotic bosses. Time to hit LinkedIn. For me, my employer makes sure we have enough seats.”

Pros and cons of hot desking

After the pandemic, many workers worldwide hesitated to return to physical offices, leading companies to adopt a hybrid workplace model. As part of this change, many companies introduced “hot desking” to adapt to the new work environment.

In this workspace system, desks aren’t assigned to specific employees; instead, they are available for anyone to use on a first-come, first-served basis.

According to Accruent EMS, the world’s leading provider of workplace and asset management software, this setup has allowed companies to better accommodate flexible work schedules, make the most of their office space, and cut down on real estate costs by getting rid of unused desks.

However, while there are benefits to this setup, as the Singaporean employee and other Singaporeans have pointed out above, there are also downsides to it if not addressed or planned properly.

Read also: “I don’t work with people like him” — Candidate walks out of job interview after witnessing employer yelling at junior employee

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