How working from home is changing the game
Work-from-home and remote worker productivity
- A survey of 1,500 hiring managers found that 62% of companies were planning more remote work now and in the following years to come (Upwork)
- This same report predicts 36.2 million workers or 22% of Americans will be working remotely by the year 2025 (Upwork)
- In 2020, nearly 70% of businesses said they were making long-term changes to management practices to adapt to remote work (Codility)
- Despite somewhat difficult circumstances for working remotely, 77% of respondents agree that having the option to work from home would make them happier (Owl Labs)
- 23% of full-time employees are willing to take a pay cut of over 10% in order to work from home at least some of the time (Owl Labs)
- Employers can save an average of £11,000 per half-time telecommuter, per year. The savings are from the lower cost of office space, increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and less turnover (Global Workplace Analytics)
- The most popular benefits of working from home include no commuting, saving money and improved work-life balance (Slack)
Potential setbacks for a home-office set-up
- The top challenges of working from home are unstable Wi-Fi or internet access, maintaining and building working relationships with colleagues, staying focused and avoiding distraction, feelings of loneliness or isolation and collaboration with co-workers (Slack)
- 10% of workers have also stated that they're not comfortable working from home, 11% claim that there are too many distractions in their home offices and 13% complain of having inadequate equipment (Travelperk)
- Burnout is a very real threat to workers and over half of workers (51%) said they’re concerned about experiencing burnout from back-to-back calls when working from home (Travelperk)
Working from the office has its benefits too
- Learning on the job is a key advantage to spending physical time in the office, with 60% of workers saying the best way to learn a job is being around co-workers. Specifically for younger generations (Gen Z and Millennials) who may be starting a new job, seeing more experienced colleagues interact and problem solve is a useful way to build confidence and develop their own skill (Travelperk).
- Researchers found when people spent more time interacting with others—talking, socialising and connecting—they displayed improved mental function, increasing cognitive performance (University of Michigan)
- People who are in close physical proximity are three times as collaborative and see greater output in academic papers and patents (MIT)
- Team relationships have taken a hit, with over half (56%) of office workers saying they’re concerned about a lack of team spirit or working relationships (Travelperk)
- 26% of employees said they missed meeting their teams face-to-face when asked about why they like going to the office (Travelperk)
- Many people feel in-person meetings are essential and produce more productive work. 60% of workers say they do more prep for in-person meetings than they do for online (Travelperk)
- 77% of those who work remotely at least a few times per month show increased productivity, with 30% doing more work in less time and 24% doing more work in the same period of time (ConnectSolutions)
Understanding what employees want
- 82% of U.S. employees wanted to work remotely at least once a week. Only 8% do not want to work from home at any frequency. 19% said they would like to telecommute full-time. The balance would prefer to work a hybrid-remote schedule (Global Workplace Analytics).
- 59% of respondents said they would be more likely to choose an employer who offered remote work at least part of the time, compared to those who didn’t (Global Workplace Analytics)
- 54% of U.S. workers say they would stay with their employer but be less willing to go the extra mile and 46% would look for another job if they were not allowed to work remotely (Owl Labs)
- More than a third of workers would take a pay cut of up to 5% in exchange for the option to work remotely at least some of the time; a quarter would take a 10% pay cut; 20% would take an even greater cut (Owl Labs)
- 23% of those who telework are willing to work longer hours from home than they normally would onsite to accomplish more (ConnectSolutions)
- Remote positions can help employees save between £600 and £6,000 per year by working at home half the time. Those savings are primarily due to reduced costs for travel, parking and food (Global Workplace Analytics).
- In terms of time, a half-time telecommuter saves the equivalent of 11 workdays per year in time they would have otherwise spent commuting. Extreme commuters save more than three times that (Global Workplace Analytics).
- 1 in 2 people won’t return to jobs that don’t offer remote work (Owl Labs)
- Almost half of employees feel their commute is getting worse; 70% of them feel their employers should take the lead in helping them solve the problem (Global Workplace Analytics)
The future of work: a hybrid model
- 76% of employees confirmed a shift to hybrid work in their companies (Travelperk)
- The vast majority of global knowledge workers (72%) prefer a hybrid arrangement that combines the home and the office. Workers are far less enthusiastic about going all in on one environment: Only 12% would prefer working from the office all the time, and 13% want to work from home full-time (Slack).
- 80% of employees consider telework a job perk (Global Workplace Analytics)
- Flexibility is one of the highest-ranked benefits by Millennials, even higher than student loans or tuition reimbursement (Gallup)
- 20% of workers feel that they are more productive in an environment where they are able to choose when to work at home and when to go to the office (Travelperk)
- 26% of people surveyed said that a hybrid work situation gives them a better work-life balance (Travelperk)
- 95% of employers say telework has a high impact on employee retention (Global Workplace Analytics)
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