For many employers, the physical workplace is the focal point of employee productivity. However, many employees feel they don’t need to be in an actual office to get their jobs done.
March 2021 will mark a year since the majority of U.S. employees had to switch to a remote work environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Research from PwC shows there is a disconnect between employers and employees when it comes to what the return to work may look like post-pandemic. Both agree that there will be some kind of hybrid model, where employees split their time between the home and office, according to PwC’s Remote Work Survey, conducted in December. However, how often
“We were curious to find out whether
PwC’s previous June survey found that 72% of employees would like to continue working from home at least two days a week. The December survey found results essentially unchanged: 74% of employees said they'd like to work from home at least two days a week.
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The remote work model has been an overall success, according to the most recent PwC survey. Indeed, 83% of employers now say the shift to remote work has been successful for their company, compared to 73% in June. Fewer than one in five employers say they want to return to the office as it was pre-pandemic. The rest are struggling with how widely to extend remote work options, with just 13% of executives prepared to let go of the office for good.
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While employees are enthusiastic about working remotely the majority of the time moving forward, 87% of employees still say the office is important for collaborating with team members and building relationships.
“This virus will go away and we'll get back to some sort of normal, whatever that normal is,” Caglar says. “At that point, many employees [say they will] want a version of the flexibility of working from home they’ve enjoyed [over] the last 10 months or so.”
With vaccines rolling out across the U.S., most of the executives and employees PwC surveyed expect the hybrid workplace to become a reality in the second quarter of this year.
By July 2021, 75% of executives anticipate that at least half of office employees will be working in the office. In comparison, 61% of employees expect to spend half their time in the office by July. However, the survey found that there is no consensus on the optimal balance of work days at home vs. in the office.
“There's an imbalance there — employers believe they will come back to the office faster than employees,” Caglar says. “On the longer term, employers believe employees will be in the office much more frequently than the employees.”
Despite these differences in opinions, organizations can put several strategies in place to ensure that employees are performing effectively, no matter the environment.
Employers should poll employees and use the data to give themselves greater insight into what employees need. Additionally, employers can invest more in tools that support virtual collaboration like better video conferencing and improving their IT infrastructure. Sixty-four percent of employers say they plan to invest more in training for their leaders to better manage a more virtual workforce. About 57% of employers plan to invest in conference rooms with enhanced virtual connectivity, so that those employees not in the office can seamlessly connect with their colleagues.
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While the
“After 18-months [of working remotely], it’s going to be one hard benefit to give back to the company,” Caglar says. “I think one major lesson to learn is, work is what you do, not where you do it.”
