Facilities managers know the drill. The thermostat complaint arrives before the morning coffee gets cold. Someone is always too hot, someone else is always too cold, and the ticketing system fills up with grievances about stuffy air and odd smells. It can feel like an endless, unwinnable battle.
A new national survey suggests those complaints deserve far more strategic attention than they typically receive. In a workplace culture obsessed with perks, ping-pong tables, and premium snack walls, employees are sending a clear message that they want to work in places that get the basics right first.
The 2026 GPS Air Indoor Air Quality Report, conducted with 750 U.S. adults working in non-remote environments, offers facility leaders a data-backed reminder that indoor air quality (IAQ) and physical comfort are foundational to how employees perceive the workplace.
Comfort Beats Perks
When asked to choose between a workplace with better amenities and one with fresher, more comfortable air, 61% of workers chose the environment with basic amenities and consistently fresh air. In other words, the espresso bar and the ergonomic lounge furniture take a back seat to an HVAC system that actually works.
This preference reflects a fundamental change in how employees evaluate the in-person work experience after years of controlling their own home environments. Workers who split time between home and office may be more sensitive to changes in workplace conditions, while those in the office more often may have grown more accustomed to the environment over time. The occasional office visitor, in particular, arrives with fresh eyes.
The data on what drives productivity reinforces the point. Temperature and airflow at 57% and noise levels at 55% are the strongest drivers of productivity, followed by cleanliness and tidiness at 47%. These are squarely in facilities management’s domain. Executives may debate culture and flexibility, but the physical environment that either supports or undermines focus falls on the facilities team to deliver.
Even first impressions are dominated by environmental factors. When workers first arrive at work, 53% notice temperature and airflow first, 51% notice cleanliness and tidiness, and 45% notice noise levels. Before an employee has settled in for the day, they’ve already formed an opinion. That judgment is largely based on what facility leaders control.
Poor Conditions Signal Poor Leadership
The stakes escalate beyond comfort. When an employee encounters a stuffy room or musty smell, they draw conclusions about management.
In all, 69% say odd smells, dust, or temperature swings at least sometimes make them feel their workplace is not being maintained as carefully as it should be. When the environment feels consistently off, 32% say their first thought is that something isn’t being managed properly, while 26% say it feels like employee comfort and well-being are not a priority.
That is a significant reputational risk sitting inside an air handler. When a facility runs poorly, it negatively affects employee perception of whether leadership cares about them. In all, 83% say noticeable conditions such as cleanliness, odor management, and dust control influence their confidence that leadership is prioritizing a well-managed work environment at least moderately, including 50% who say those conditions are very or extremely influential.
Facility leaders have long understood that their work is invisible when it goes well and glaring when it does not. This survey puts numbers to that reality. Visible efforts to improve workplace comfort and safety carry emotional weight, with 83% saying those efforts would make them feel more respected as an employee. Respect doesn’t usually appear in a maintenance budget conversation, but perhaps it should.
The connection to return-to-office efforts is equally direct. In all, 67% say they would be more willing to come to work if their company communicated the steps it takes to ensure a comfortable and healthy environment. That means facility leaders who can document and communicate their IAQ and comfort management efforts are actively supporting workforce strategy.
The challenge for facility teams is not simply responding to complaints, but identifying and addressing issues before they affect employee perception in the first place.
Visibility and Communication Are the Missing Piece
Knowing the environment matters is one thing. Knowing what to do about it is another. The survey offers facility leaders a useful roadmap.
Asked what would help reassure them that their workplace is being actively managed, 66% of workers chose improved ventilation, airflow, or temperature control, while 60% chose clear updates about cleaning, maintenance, or building conditions. Employees want both the physical reality and the communication that confirms it.
The top answer for what kind of proof employees find most believable, at 38%, is a system that allows employees to report issues and see follow-through. The next most-selected option, chosen by 29%, is a simple monthly update on what’s being done.
Facility teams don’t necessarily need to overhaul their infrastructure overnight. Closing the loop by letting employees know a complaint was received, investigated, and addressed can make a meaningful difference. Transparency about maintenance cycles, filter replacements, or HVAC upgrades can transform invisible work into visible care.
Communication frequency matters too. More than half of workers (52%) say they want either weekly updates or always-available visibility into workplace conditions, while another 34% want at least occasional updates.
One way facility leaders can stay ahead of both environmental issues and employee concerns is by prioritizing systems with closed-loop air quality control. These systems continuously monitor conditions, automatically respond when performance shifts, and create a real-time record of building performance. That allows facility teams to move from reactive complaint management to proactive optimization. The performance data generated by these systems can also give facility teams credible, easy-to-share updates that help reassure employees the environment is being actively managed.
Back to Basics
The key takeaway of the GPS Air survey is that the amenities arms race has real limits. Foosball tables and cold brew on tap can’t compensate for a space that feels uncomfortable or neglected.
Employees are paying close attention to whether a workplace feels fresh, comfortable, and consistently maintained, and they’re using those cues to make broader judgments about trust, care, and whether the office is worth returning to.
For facility leaders, that’s both a challenge and an opportunity. The temperature complaints that fill the inbox each morning are early signals of something employees care about deeply. Addressing them well, and communicating that effort clearly, may be one of the best moves available in the return-to-office era.
The fundamentals aren’t glamorous. But they work.
Audwin Cash is CEO of GPS Air, a provider of indoor air quality solutions. With prior roles at Regal Rexnord and Acuity Brands Lighting in energy-efficient building technologies, he now leads efforts to bring data-driven air cleaning and real-time monitoring systems to market. Audwin holds a BS in Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech and an MBA from Lehigh University.