The COVID-19 pandemic changed how people work, and as a result, remote working is on the rise, but most Americans would love to work from the office. More than half of Americans (54%) whose workplace doesn’t provide a hybrid work setting will prefer to come to work daily.
Working from home affects productivity
A study of 2,000 office workers offered insight into what the return to work looks like for American workers and established that close to 76% of the employees love working from the office. Over the past three years, close to 69% of the participants have spent time working from home, but 72% say that the physical environment affects their energy levels and productivity. The finding offers insight into why the workplace environment is crucial for workers and not just for collaboration.
According to the study commissioned by Industrious, office employees like office space when collaborating with colleagues (62%) and hosting client meetings (86%). Surprisingly, among the tasks employees prefer to complete in an office setting, completing personal tasks whenever they require a private place (59%) or design output (57%) were also highly ranked.
People want to spend more time in the office and not at home
Industrious chief commercial officer Anna Squires said that a lot of what is peddled in the media is that most people will want to work from home if they had a chance. However, most people don’t want to spend all their life working from home. Squires said that people want to spend some hours in the office and interact with others, but they want to do so in a place close to home.
There are some office aspects that people value that they can get at home, like equipment such as scanners and printers (31%), co-workers and colleagues (26%), and a computer setup (23%). Surprisingly, even when a hybrid model exists, office employees still value their seats, with 70% saying they sit at the same place daily. However, about 50% of the respondents say they will complain if somebody takes their space in the office.
