No One Wants to Work From Home More Than 3 Days a Week, Says Survey

After COVID-19 pandemic made work from home (WFH) the new normal, the office is definitely not dead but it is likely to change in size and functionality.  

As per Money Control report, new survey revealed that  as many as 82 percent of employees would prefer to work from home for just over a day in a week amid pandemic but, no one wants to work from home more than three days a week. 

A survey by Colliers which is a Canada-based global commercial real estate services organization states that as many as 82 percent wish to work from home at least one day a week after pandemic, while 0 percent wish to work from home for over three days a week. 

The survey also reports that those who have never worked from home before the pandemic- 85 percent would like to work from home at least one day a week after COVID-19. Breaking it into simple stats, as many as 72 percent remain steady or feel more productive working from home; then comes 25 percent have virtual ‘social’ breaks with colleagues; while 25 percent use their camera during virtual meetings and 67 percent are missing in-person collaboration. 

The Colliers survey further highlighted that at least 63 percent office goers pointed out that their work-life balance has improved since working from home and as many as 89 percent said that they felt trusted by their managers during the work-from-home period. 

In the survey, the experts found that employees who live alone have shown a more pronounced increase in productivity while employees who have virtual social breaks and meetings with colleagues at fixed moments show a 25 percent increase in productivity.

Meanwhile in March, Colliers’ global Workplace Advisory team had launched the first global ‘Work-from-Home’ experience survey. It was the time when, employees were immediately getting into the new normal. 

The aim of the survey was to understand how people are experiencing working from home and to identify potential medium and long-term impacts. There are few other aspects that the survey focused on:

- While working from home, productivity levels did not change for many people. 

- As many as 40 percent of the respondents indicated that productivity did not change since working from home. 

- As many as 32 percent indicated productivity increased since working from home and 28 percent indicated productivity decreased. 

- Also, after the pandemic it would be a combination of work choices and space options.

“Office is an environment where people feel comfortable to collaborate and work together. The need for that will not cease to exist due to the virus. The new normal will only create a new balance, with focus on flexibility”, said Arnab Ghosh, National Director, Fit-out at Colliers International India.