Over 70% of the companies active in Romania invest in relaxation areas for their staff, aiming to encourage communication between employees.

“Even if the budget for arranging office space fell sharply due to the financial crisis, companies are willing to spend up to EUR 5,000 for implementing relaxation areas for their employees," said Iuliana Carata, general manager of Techno Office, local supplier of complete solutions for office space planning.

The budget is different based on the surface, the number of employees and the facilities.

According to Techno Office, most of the companies that prefer such spaces are active in the media, advertising, IT and FMGC sectors. They are usually multinationals that adhere to the organizational culture of the parent company.

However, increasingly more local companies start to understand the purpose of such spaces meant to encourage relaxation during working hours, which leads to a growing productivity.

“Usually, the average area for a relaxation space is of 25-30 sqm for a company with around 50 employees,” said Carata.

The area increases however depending on how big the company is. “We even had projects in which we arranged three relaxation spaces within the same firm,” she added.

In terms of facilities, Internet access, and technology elements are always present. When it comes to furniture, most companies choose sofas, armchairs and lounge systems.

Some of the relaxation areas are often turned into playing grounds, including pool, foosball or Ping-Pong tables, darts games, or even Wii or X-Box consoles.

Libraries with books and magazines are also popular in recent years while those who want something special choose musical instruments such as pianos.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com