Employees working in Nottingham city centre have said they enjoy being able to go to places to eat and drink the most, but think parking is too expensive. More and more people are returning to work in the office, either full-time or in a hybrid model, which is partly working from home and partly in the office, as the UK continues its recovery from Covid.
Public transport services were also praised by employees in the city. But parking is said to be "way too expensive".
Read more: Excitement at Nottingham residential area where new Aldi is being built
Clare Hindson, 38, who is a project manager for Adtrak and is from The Meadows, said: "I love all the places you can go to get food in Nottingham city. I like the markets for street food, and places to go for a drink with friends after work.
"The transport services such as the buses and trams are great as cars being kept out of the centre is really important, but for me parking is way too expensive, it makes the city a little bit restrictive. I have a friend who is a single mum, and she came in to work in the city for the day and ended up paying something like £17."
Emma Layton, 35, who works for BJSS and lives in the city centre, said: "I generally like being in the office in the city, we work in a hybrid model and I have two children, but I like coming into the centre so I can treat myself to lunch and things like that. We're currently trying to encourage more people to come into the city through workshops."
Marie Swift, 49, who works in the city and is from Top Valley, said: "We could do with a bit more parking. The city as a whole is a lot better now though, people are much more friendly with things getting back to normal."
Nottingham City Council has a workplace parking levy in place, which is a charge on employers who provide parking for their employees. For employers that provide 11 or more liable spaces, the charge is £458 from April 1 to March 31 2023, and the local authority says it tackles problems of traffic congestion and is helping to fund extensions to the tram network.
Research from Glassdoor, a company where employees rate employers, also found that parking is among the keywords mentioned most by Nottingham workers. The others are 'university', 'genuine', 'trust' and 'restructure'.
The company has analysed thousands of anonymous reviews to find out what Nottingham workers want from their work. Employees rated Nottingham-based companies on average 3.79 out of 5 for job satisfaction, below the UK average of 3.82 but above the East Midlands average of 3.77.
With a rating of 3.38, employees scored compensation and benefits by Nottingham companies as one of the worst in the country, and worse than the region-wide average of 3.41. 60 percent of employees rated their company as having a positive business outlook for the year ahead.
Reviews left by full-time and part-time employees between January 1 and February 28 were analysed, and only current employees or those who had left their job in that timeframe were included.
Lauren Thomas, an economist for Glassdoor, said: "Nottingham is a young and growing city with a bright business outlook. Its rich mixture of service, health, manufacturing and retail businesses sit neatly alongside its two universities which continue to be significant players in the city.
"However, our data indicates that workers across Nottingham are less satisfied with their jobs than those in many other cities and are demanding more of their employers. With hiring set to remain tough throughout 2022 due to weak employment growth, companies should reconsider what employees want from work to attract and retain talent.
"We can see that companies across the city and wider East Midlands region are working hard to ensure employees feel part of a diverse and inclusive workplace culture that offers a sense of belonging, but there is still room for improvement across pay, senior leadership and career opportunities. Focusing on employee engagement can help create better workplace culture, reduce staff turnover, increase productivity and provide greater job satisfaction."
Lucy Robinson, director of resources at East Midlands Chamber who leads on HR, said: "After the pandemic turbocharged pre-existing trends regarding a desire for more flexible working, there's no question that employers have been forced to re-evaluate their relationship with their employees. We expect to see many previously office-centric businesses to deploy a hybrid model between remote and on-premises working in the future as there remains no substitute for collaborating with colleagues in person, but this means firms must have a solid offer that makes people want to visit their workplaces.
"There is always a strong case to be made for material rewards such as good pay, benefits and support with travel arrangements, but employees are increasingly valuing less tangible aspects that go hand in hand with a positive company culture that ultimately enables them to do their job well. They want to feel a continuation of the trust placed in them during lockdown when they were expected to deliver results while working from home, enjoy a sufficient work-life balance and be offered continuous personal development opportunities that will allow career growth.
"An inclusive organisation is also firmly on the radar for many businesses, with research by the Chamber and EMH group finding that two-thirds (68 percent) of East Midlands businesses believe having an equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategy can contribute, at least to some degree, to the success of their business plans over the coming 12 months.
"With job vacancies at record highs and Chamber members continuing to tell us about their struggles in finding people with the right skills - four in five (79 percent) of Nottinghamshire businesses that attempted to recruit in the past three months struggled to fill roles, according to our Quarterly Economic Survey for Q1 2022 - there has never been a more important time for companies to retain valued staff, which may require new approaches to how they engage with their workforce."
