Decades of research reveal what noise does to the people in your office
Acoustics research has been building for decades, and the findings are consistent: noise in the workplace affects how people think, how well they perform, how they feel over the course of a day, and how long they stay in a role.
These aren’t anecdotal observations. They’re reproducible findings from peer-reviewed research, and they have direct implications for anyone responsible for designing, managing or investing in a workplace.
For decision-makers in Queensland’s corporate offices, government workplaces, healthcare administration and professional services sectors, the research provides a clear picture of what noise costs and what quieter environments can recover. This article summarises the key findings and explains what they mean in practical terms.
Unpacking the cognitive cost of workplace noise
Human cognitive performance is measurably impaired by noise at levels that are common in open-plan offices. Studies using standardised cognitive tests have found that tasks requiring reading comprehension, sustained attention, mental arithmetic, and verbal reasoning perform significantly worse in noisy environments than in quiet ones.
The mechanism is well understood. Working memory, the system the brain uses to hold information temporarily while processing a task, has limited capacity. Background noise, particularly intelligible speech, occupies some of that capacity, leaving less available for the task at hand. The result is slower processing, more errors, and greater mental effort required to achieve the same output.
Research from the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics found that performance on complex cognitive tasks can drop by 20% to 40% in noisy open-plan conditions compared to quieter environments. For knowledge workers doing analytical, writing-intensive or creative work, that’s a substantial reduction.
Recovery time from noise interruptions
Noise causes two types of damage to productive work: direct impairment of cognitive performance during exposure, and disruption to task continuity through interruptions. Both have been extensively studied.
Research by Gloria Mark at the University of California, Irvine found that after any interruption, it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds for office workers to fully return to the original task. This figure is remarkably consistent across different types of interruption, from a colleague speaking to a phone ringing to an on-screen notification appearing.
In a typical open-plan office where noise is frequent, the interruption cycle can consume a substantial portion of the working day. Workers interrupted four times during a morning before lunch lose close to two hours of recovery time on top of the interruptions themselves. Multiply those figures across a team, and the productive time lost is significant.
More recent research has extended this finding. A 2024 study found that around 36% of workplace leaders reported one to five hours of productive time lost per employee per week due to distractions, while 34% reported six to ten hours. At the higher end of that range, noise-related productivity loss represents close to a quarter of the standard working week.
The physiological effects of noise in the workplace
Beyond cognitive performance, sustained exposure to workplace noise has measurable physiological effects too. Studies have documented elevated cortisol levels, increased blood pressure, and higher heart rate variability in workers who are exposed to persistent noise. These are markers of the body’s stress response operating over an extended period.
Over time, chronic noise-related stress contributes to elevated rates of fatigue, burnout, and physical illness. The occupational health literature in Australia recognises noise as a workplace hazard, though this recognition has historically focused more on industrial settings than commercial offices. The evidence suggests that office noise, while typically below hearing damage thresholds, is a real occupational health consideration.
For businesses with workplace wellbeing programs, this represents an important gap. Investing in mental health supports, flexible work arrangements, and other wellbeing initiatives while leaving the acoustic environment unaddressed means a known source of physiological stress remains in place.
How excess workplace noise affects employee retention
The connection between workplace noise and staff retention is one of the more striking findings in the literature. Research from Oxford Economics directly linked acoustic discomfort to turnover intention, finding that workers in the noisiest office environments are significantly more likely to report planning to leave their role within six months.
A 2024 study involving workers across Australia, the UK and the United States found that 69% of employees report dissatisfaction with noise levels at their primary workspace. The same study found that 44% of those surveyed said their employer does nothing to address the problem. This combination of dissatisfaction and inaction is a retention risk.
In Queensland’s professional services and corporate sectors, where competition for skilled professionals in Brisbane and beyond remains real, the retention implications of persistent noise are worth quantifying. Even a modest reduction in staff turnover more than offsets a reasonable investment in acoustic treatment.
What the research says about ideal workplace noise levels
Research on recommended noise levels for knowledge work converges on a range of 40 to 50 decibels (dB) as the zone where cognitive performance is optimised for most people. Below 40 dB, environments can feel uncomfortably silent and socially isolating. Above 55 dB, concentration becomes measurably harder, and the physiological stress effects become more pronounced.
For reference, a typical open-plan office without acoustic treatment often measures between 55 dB and 70 dB during working hours. An open-plan office with appropriate ceiling and wall treatment typically falls in the 45 dB to 55 dB range. The gap between a treated and an untreated office environment is well within the range that makes a measurable difference to cognitive performance.
The specific target will vary depending on the type of work being done. Spaces designed for focused individual work benefit from being closer to 40 dB to 45 dB. Collaboration areas where conversation is expected and valued can be slightly higher. The principle is creating appropriate acoustic zones rather than trying to achieve a single level across an entire office floor.
Translating noise research into acoustic design
The body of research on workplace noise and performance has direct implications for how Queensland offices are designed and fitted out. It suggests that acoustic treatment shouldn’t be a secondary consideration but rather a primary one, with documented effects on the productivity, health and retention of the people who use the space.
At Avenue Interior Systems, research informs how we approach office acoustic design. Understanding what the science says about cognitive performance, stress, and retention helps translate acoustic investment into real business outcomes. Clients who come to us with a noise problem often find that the solution is straightforward: the right products, installed in the right places, make a measurable difference to how the space performs.
For Queensland businesses fitting out new offices or refurbishing existing ones, the research case for acoustic treatment is clear. It’s not a matter of preference or aesthetics, although those matter too. It’s a matter of understanding what kind of environment your people need to do their best work.
Learn more about how workplace noise affects your employees’ performance
The science on workplace noise is well established. Noise impairs cognition, increases stress, accelerates fatigue, and makes it more likely that good people will leave. The solutions are practical, established, and well within reach for most Queensland businesses. What the research ultimately asks us to do is take the acoustic environment as seriously as any other aspect of workplace design.
Trusted to help shape your brand through better sound. Call us on 1300 827 177.
Because at Avenue Interior Systems, we design your silence.
