Strange Ironies Face Companies Getting Employees Back to the Office

Employers, at least larger ones, have made it clear that they want employees back in the office. There’s culture to pass on, innovation to happen, and—typically unstated—executives who worry that they can’t keep an eye on wily remote workers, to be sure they’re being productive.

Cushman & Wakefield compiled some of what they’ve learned from surveying employees. The methodology is far from perfect; as the firm says: “These findings are the result of more than 11,000 respondents across major industries from October 1, 2020, to August 15, 2022.” That’s an awfully long stretch of time get coherent answers, as what someone might answer toward the end of the first pandemic year could be separated by half a planet from what they might say in summer of this year.

Still, bringing a pinch of salt to the numbers, there were some interesting answers that suggest the two groups—employees and employers—have significantly different expectations. Like, employers are from Mars, and workers are commuters from Alpha Centauri.

1.  For all those employers who want everyone in the office, there’s a massive contingent of employees across every industry that plans on something else. “Our survey indicates that 44 percent of employees want to go to the office periodically, up to two days a week,” the firm writes. Notice that “up to” qualification.

That may be because, according to multiple studies, workers are more productive, happier, and in better health when remote.

2.  Next comes something that is a little backward from what you might expect: “Professional services/consulting and life science companies have the highest percentage of employees who want to return full-time,” Cushman writes, “while the healthcare and technology sectors have the highest percentage interested in remote work.”

You might think that those in professional services and consulting would have a greater ability to work from home, like those in technology. But healthcare? Often a tough set of services to provide from home.

3.  The third difference is in why employees want to return to the office. Companies want work done. But employees? Among those who do want to come back to the office, about 52 percent are motivated by a desire to socialize. You can’t do that from home, and employees say they can’t work as well from work (see the fourth point, below).

“Over time, more employees have come to view the office as a place for personal connections and rely on it less to access resources than they used to: In 2020, 31 percent of employees said they go to the office to access tools, compared with 21 percent today—the largest downward shift of all the reasons tested. This likely reflects the fact that they have created more effective workspaces at home,” the firm writes.

4.  Finally, 15 percent of employees say there’s no benefit to working from the office.

“Companies need to convey the value of the office as a place for connection and collaboration if they want to entice respondents back,” Cushman writes. But if people have better setups at home and look for the office as a place to socialize, that might be a tough value to convey.

From: BenefitsPRO