So much has changed since the start of the pandemic. Our lives have been turned upside down in so many different ways and it isn’t over! Yet we find ourselves thinking about what it will be like when we are allowed back into the office, or back to school, or when we can travel again. Maybe we want something to look forward to after a year of limited human interactions. Or perhaps we want to feel more in control of what other changes might come our way. What is clear is that many companies are asking what will come next as far as work and while there is still a lot of uncertainty, one thing is quite clear: working from home and hybrid work are high on many employees’ wish list.
In a study conducted in the United States by Creative Strategies among 750 employed participants, 610 of whom have been working remotely during the pandemic, employee’s sentiment about working from home shed light on where organizations will need to focus on driving satisfaction as well as productivity.
Fifty-eight percent of respondents say they have settled into a routine and they are much more comfortable working from home now than at the start of the shelter in place. I have often said that working from home during the pandemic should have been referred to as “being home trying to work.” Having children at home from school trying to learn or having partners or roommates sharing the same space creating an environment that for many people was not your “business as usual” working from home. Only 48% of panelists who are always remote found their routine during the pandemic.
The level of uncertainty remains indeed high, with 30% of the panelists who say they have not been told how long they will be able to work from home. Another 7% have been told they can work from home till March and 11% have their deadline set for the summer. Only 19% have been told they can work remotely indefinitely, unless they work in a group that needs to be in the office, such as manufacturing or research.
This wide range of responses seems to mostly account for the practicality of returning to the office, leaving out of the equation what the employees might want to do when the time comes to reopen the office doors. A whopping 46% of the panelists have expressed that they want to work from home as often as possible, with another 31% who wants to work from home a couple of days a…
Read More: Hybrid Work Is Here To Stay, But Not Without An Effort