Nearly half of employees think full-time remote working doesn’t work

Full-time remote working has had its moment in the sun, but it seems as if the euphoria was short-lived.

Collaboration solutions provider Barco has published a new report, based on a poll of 1,750 employees around the world, which states that just 15 percent would want to continue working from home full-time after Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

Almost half of the poll’s respondents said they no longer find joy in remote working, due to trouble collaborating with colleagues, the struggle to contribute to meetings and missing the social side of office life.

But not wanting full-time remote working doesn’t mean a return to full-time office working either. What employees seem to want most is a hybrid workplace model, where most of their time is spent in the office, while still keeping the flexibility and freedom to work from home when they want.

Globally, the ideal balance is three days in the office and two days at home, according to the report.

Further, employees want better tools for working from remote locations – such as  better video conferencing technology – and hope their employers make this a priority next year.

“While the world of work will never be the same again, the immediate reaction to the pandemic – that office life as we know it would end and people would move to universal remote working for the foreseeable future – already looks to be an overreaction,” said Lieven Bertier, Segment Marketing Director Workplace at Barco.

“There is now a burning desire from employees to get back to normal. Eighty-five percent of the workforce wants to return to the office and resume the collaborative and social aspect of working life that they have missed so much, albeit with the freedom, flexibility and facilities to adopt a better blend of home and office working.”

“Technology will be crucial to achieving this blend,” he added.

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