Highly educated, mission-oriented and independent — academics and university staff are unique. So, what do they need to thrive on campus? Discover Hassell’s new report.

Unlike office workers, who want to work more from home, university staff prioritise time on campus to collaborate and socialise ideas with colleagues and students. And while private offices have drastically declined in the corporate world, they are prolific and tightly held across Australian university campuses.

Hassell’s 2024 Academic Workplace Survey, Workplaces on Campus: new dynamics for a distinctive workforce, reveals ways to create a thriving campus community in a climate where more students and staff are working and learning online.

Drawing on a survey of 300 university employees, including both academic and professional staff, and 500 corporate office workers, the findings compare the workplace dynamics of the two cohorts.

“Campuses have their own workplace culture, distinct from what you find in most corporations. The fundamental differences in workplace patterns and needs of university employees versus office workers mean you can’t apply strategies from one to the other,” says Dr Daniel Davis, Head of Research and author of the report, Workplaces on Campus: new dynamics for a distinctive workforce.

Among the report’s key findings are:

  • Campus workplaces are characterised as future-focused while often grounded in a strong sense of tradition and heritage. They are often unionised, hierarchical, and more reliant on casual labour.
  • Hybrid work is the dominant pattern for university staff (72%). While almost half of office workers (45%) are fully in the office, only 26% of university staff work fully on campus.
  • University staff want to spend more of their working week on campus, where they can connect and collaborate with colleagues and students.
  • The academic workplace is very different from its corporate counterpart where 80% of university staff are assigned an individual or shared private office. Meanwhile, 52% of office workers have a desk in an open-plan office.
  • University staff value private offices so much that they wouldn’t trade them, even for a modest pay increase. But most would switch to an open-plan office if it had a modern makeover and ample amenities (66%) or new research equipment (68%).
  • Most university staff are deeply concerned about climate change, yet only 22% said they were concerned about the environmental impact of empty office spaces.
  • Similar to what has been observed in the corporate world, university staff want simple, domestic, wellness-focused conveniences to complement their workplace.

Workplaces on Campus: new dynamics for a distinctive workforce, emphasises the importance of acknowledging the unique patterns and preferences of university staff to empower their valued contribution to campus life.