Despite the associated challenges, employees across the world intend to continue working remotely once the pandemic has subsided, a new report from Harvey Nash suggests. As a result, businesses will need to “dramatically” scale back their office space.
According to the report, almost four in five tech workers would choose to operate under a hybrid working model, with their time split between the office and home. Almost all (95 percent) want to work between two to five days a week from home.
Harvey Nash hints that the pandemic opened the eyes of many workers to the advantages of remote working, given that before the lockdown less than half (42 percent) wanted to work remotely.
When it comes to considering employment opportunities, remote working has become a much more significant factor, with only salary cited as a more important consideration.
After salary and location, strong culture and strong leadership are considered the most important factors.
Workers are also growing more comfortable working at a distance, without face-to-face time with colleagues. More than a third (38 percent) of the poll’s respondents said they would be comfortable living far away from the office.
According to Harvey Nash, this trend will drive an increase in remote jobs in areas such as cybersecurity, data analysis, software engineering and development, as well as AI and machine learning.