And no… it’s not the pool table!

If you answered remote working, you are not alone! We conducted a recent poll on LinkedIn and the results are in…

With 50% of our audience voting for remote or hybrid working as the number one factor when looking for a new role, followed by an increase in salary (33%), company values & culture (17%) and benefits & perks falling last on the list at (0%)

Return to the office post-pandemic, yay or nay?

According to a recent article by the BBC, many workers are quitting over return-to-office policies. 

Going back to the office remains the less popular option in the UK compared to Europe. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), more than a third of the UK’s office-based workforce are still working from home. While only less than one in 10 desire to return to their desks five days a week.

Making hybrid officially the ‘new normal’ based on reports by the government’s statisticians.

However, not all are entirely in favour of the remote/hybrid working business model.

Employers want their employees back at their desks and that includes the world’s richest person, Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO who has recently issued an ultimatum to his employees – declaring it’s back to 40 hours a week in the office or out the door.

But why?

Leaders value in-person interaction and see the office as a place buzzing with performance and innovation.  However, they are not the only ones who are likely to think that their employees are less productive working from home. In a recent survey of 1,050 UK employees, most people think that their colleagues aren’t being productive while working from home!

Surprising work from home benefits

On the other hand, another study shows that working from home doesn’t harm productivity at all, with employees retaining the same output levels when working remotely.

Then there are also the benefits that come from the remote and hybrid working model. The many benefits include increased wellbeing, with 79% saying the ability to work from anywhere has made them happier and 57% claiming their productivity and quality of work had improved.

Has working from home divided us?

While the debate over hybrid work or a full return to the office continues, Microsoft’s 2022 Work Trend Index survey also found that 50% of leaders have plans for a full in-person return to the office in 2022, while most employees seem to prefer hybrid or remote.       

As the Great Resignation continues and the gap between supply and demand for talented human capital continues to widen, one thing is for sure – flexibility incentives remain at the top spot when it comes to attracting top talents.