The term work environment typically refers to the tangible location where work is undertaken. The term can be used to describe the geographical location of work as well as the physical surroundings of the workplace such as an office, hospital, farm, construction site, or a virtual work environment comprised of networked work environments generated and connected through the Internet.

Work environment may also refer to an intangible, perceived state of the workplace, where employees and employers have a sense of their work surroundings as being, for example, “positive,” “supportive,” “negative,” or “hostile.” This is a subjective interpretation of the characteristics of work environments such as workplace policies and the nature of senior management support and leadership, relationships with colleagues, and the physical features of the place ...