Mitie Report Reveals a 'Productivity Black Hole' in UK Workplaces

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21 July 2025

A new survey shows that UK employees estimate they lose 68 minutes every week to “unproductive workplace tasks”, including navigating workplace procedures and organising their physical workspace.

FM service provider Mitie surveyed around 3,000 people working for UK companies with more than 500 employees.

On average, those surveyed estimated that they lose 68 minutes (rising to 74 among full-time workers) every week to “unproductive tasks”. When scaling these statistics across the entire full-time UK workforce, this equates to a weekly salary cost of £485.2 million.

Reasons given for lost time include:

• Handling IT issues (37 per cent)
• Delayed by a lack of timely access to information or resources (30 per cent)
• Waiting for colleagues to be available for meetings (29 per cent)
• Navigating workplace procedures and bureaucracy (24 per cent)
• Organising their physical workspace (20 per cent)

Poorly Maintained Workplaces Contribute to Job Dissatisfaction

Over half of the people surveyed (51 per cent) said a poorly maintained workplace was a major cause of their job dissatisfaction. 46 per cent said it was due to an uncomfortable or poorly designed workplace and 22 per cent said it was thanks to an unclean working environment.

Mark Caskey, Managing Director of Projects at Mitie, said: “Currently, across the UK, there are a number of friction points within office environments that adversely impact employee satisfaction which directly impacts productivity. But all is not lost, some are within the employer’s control, for example, ensuring that the right spaces for the right tasks are readily available, from collaborative through to quiet spaces, and that any tech is in full working order.

“When workplaces are designed with people in mind and managed effectively, they become powerful enablers of collaboration and transformation, high in both productivity and satisfaction. People want to spend more time in them. People thrive, and communities benefit leading to a workforce that ultimately helps the economy gain critical momentum.”

Picture a photograph showing two people seated at desks, working on computers. They are both wearing headsets. Image Credit: Pexels

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 21 July 2025

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