A Quasi-Experimental Exploration of Activity-Based Flexible Office Design and Demographic Differences in Employee Absenteeism

This study examines whether transitioning from cellular offices to an activity-based flexible office (A-FO) impacts employee absenteeism over time. Based on privacy theory, we hypothesized that changing cell A-FO setting would lead increased absenteeism. We further assumed longer-tenured and female employees experience greater difficulty with the transition, leading more among these groups. Using a sample of 2,017 white-collar workers tracked 8 years, quasi-experimentally investigated if in group design intervention (1,035 individuals) differed control (982 individuals). In difference-in-difference (DiD) framework, nested negative binomial regression showed no difference between However, three-way interaction revealed long-term higher when switching A-FO. discuss our contributions implications for corporate leadership, human resources, change management.