MORE than half of the UK’s office workers (55 per cent) would be happy to go in five days a week – but it’s going to come at a cost to employers.
When 2,000 office workers were asked how they would respond if they were mandated to come into office more, 51 per cent said they would renegotiate their compensation package with their employer.
And one in four (24 per cent) would expect to be able to expense subsistence on office days.
The research also polled 500 business owners and senior leaders, finding 59 per cent would consider renegotiations with staff.
While 47 per cent said they would offer more flexible working hours so employees can avoid peak times.
The report also shone a light on a flexible working gender divide, and when asked about changes to their working policies this year, 23 per cent of men are being given more flexibility over when and where they work, compared to 14 per cent of women.
A higher proportion of men believing their office working policy is ‘fair’ – and expect an increase of flexibility – if required to come into the office more.
Men seem to be more confident in raising this with their employer to renegotiate their package (58 per cent) compared to women (43 per cent).
Rosie McKinnon from London’s black taxi app Gett [https://bit.ly/gett-intentional-working] which commissioned the report, said: “While opinions around flexible working and ‘RTO’ continue to divide, our report reveals overall sentiment towards returning to the office is that it is better for individual and business performance.”
More than half of office workers believe they would be more productive if they were in the office five days a week.
Three quarters think the office is better for collaboration and three quarters (77 per cent) believe their work suffers when they do not know their colleagues.
Business leaders felt strongly that a fully-remote team would see their profits suffer (71 per cent), and six in 10 (64 per cent) are actively measuring the impact of their office working policy on productivity.
It also emerged that of the business leaders and senior managers polled, almost a third (27 per cent) now have employees in the office or workspace five days a week.
Compared to employees’ perceptions, only 31 per cent included ‘complete freedom’ over when and where they work, in their definition of ‘flexible working.’
Despite being perceived as the biggest downside of working in an office, 74 per cent of office workers are choosing to use their time on the commute productively on work tasks, according to the data carried out through OnePoll.com
This is more common for younger workers aged 18-24 and 25-34 (91 and 88 per cent respectively) compared to those aged 55 and above (51 per cent).
Rosie McKinnon for Gett added: “Our research shows the majority of organisations will stay agile and adapt to different working policies and patterns, but the importance of being able to travel to shared workspaces to connect remains a constant.
“Wherever it’s done, workers and their employers will see stronger results from people engaging in ‘intentional working’ – maximising the time they spend with colleagues collaborating, problem solving, and innovating.
“As we all strive for work/life balance, this shows commitment to making all ‘work’ time count.
“The organisations we partner with that empower their teams with flexibility and autonomy, choose us to help guarantee that those work journeys are smoother and quicker for their workers and create an opportunity to be more productive.”
