New research from The Global Payroll Association (GPA) shows 75% of people would turn down a job that doesn’t offer hybrid or remote working.
Missed alarms, not getting dressed and avoiding your laptop are all stereotypes associated with working from home. So much so that big companies including Amazon, Boots and JP Morgan are now insisting that all staff must work in the office full-time.
Echoing a similar tone, the former Head of Asda has recently claimed remote working is ‘creating a generation who are not doing proper work’.
However, survey finding from the GPA suggest the complete opposite. In fact, experts have remarked that the shift in the way we work, which was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, are deep rooted within the modern-day workforce.
GPA surveyed 1,000 UK office workers and found 74% currently work fully from the comfort of their own home or split their week between home and the office. A mere 26% were discovered to work from the office for the full five-day work week.
In addition, 55% of participants said they are more productive working from home, with 38% stating they are just as productive as in the workplace.
Meanwhile, 73% claimed they’re more likely to go ‘above and beyond’ for their employer while working from home, perhaps by starting earlier or working later into the evening,
Overall, 94% of workers said it’s important for them to maintain a degree of flexibility in their working arrangement, so much so, that three quarters (75%) said they would turn down a job that didn’t offer them more pliant conditions.
Melanie Pizzey, CEO and founder of the GPA, said: ‘We’ve seen some high-profile figures within the world of business look to reverse the pandemic-induced move to a more flexible working life, and it would be fascinating to see the data that backs up their claims that productivity levels have dropped as a result of people working from home.
‘However, it’s clear that a flexible working arrangement is now a key requirement in the eyes of many UK workers, so much so that no less than three quarters would now avoid applying for a role that didn’t offer some degree of flexibility.
‘What’s more, a higher proportion would rather maintain a flexible working lifestyle instead of seeing the previously fabled four-day week become a reality.’
Findings from the GPA’s survey can be accessed in full here.
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