The majority of employees around the world intend to work from home after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, according to the Ipsos global survey for the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The survey found that 66% of over 12,500 employed people in 29 countries, want flexible working to become the new norm.
Nearly 30% said they would consider looking for another job if they were forced to go back to the office full time.
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The survey has also negated dire predictions about the effects of remote working like people missing their co-workers or becoming less productive.
Only half of those questioned said they were missing their colleagues, 64% noted they were more productive with a flexible work schedule and only a third complained of burnout. During the survey, only one in three said they felt disengaged working remotely.
Majority of respondents (66%) said employers should allow more flexible working in the future and the support for this was stronger among women, parents of school children, adults under 35, and those with higher levels of education and income.
The number of those demanding more flexible working hours was roughly similar among people with children aged under 17 (68%) and those with no children (63%), though not everyone in the survey wanted to work from home all the time.
The survey further found that globally 25% or 1 out of 4 employees intend to work in the office five days a week after the pandemic is over. Mexico respondents received the strongest support for the five-day office-based working week at 40%. Over a third of people in South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Peru, India, and the US also wanted to return five days a week.
Survey respondents from people in China, Belgium, and France are least keen, favoring just 1.9 days a week.
The Ipso survey brought to fore the shift to remote working caused by COVID-19.
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Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 53% said they mostly or always worked in an office. This figure dropped to 39% when the survey was conducted again between May 21 to June 4.
It also found the extent to which people are working mostly or wholly from home varied between nations from at least half of people surveyed in South America, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Africa to 21% in Russia and 15% in China.
Almost half of the remote workers in France, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, and Hungary expect to return to the office within six months.
However, a third or more of workers in Australia, South Africa, and the UK don’t expect the world of work to return to the way it was before the pandemic — a view shared by almost a fifth (18%) of the global workforce. (AW)
