New research has highlighted that 17% of UK businesses would reduce salaries of fully remote employees if they move away to lower cost locations.
Research carried out by Owl Labs as part of their annual State of hybrid work study, which polled 500 UK business leaders, found that 84% plan on having hybrid, flexible or remote staff after the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, with only 16% expecting employees to return to the office full time.
Close to half (41%) of employers believe that remote and hybrid working has impacted their business positively, with 46% citing both employee wellbeing and overall employee morale as being positively impacted, and 49% answering business costs.
Additionally, 88% are keen to explore progressive policies aimed at the future of work post-pandemic, such as working from anywhere, unlimited holidays and four-day working weeks, with 27% considering policies that would aim to ensure home and work life do not bleed into each other for remote staff.
The research also revealed that 26% sent their employees care packages through past lockdowns in order to boost morale, while 34% are considering providing them with a stipend to ensure they have a suitable at home office set up.
Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs, commented that it is encouraging to see the majority of UK business leaders embrace hybrid work post-pandemic and start adopting more progressive policies, such as working from anywhere.
“The UK is leading the way in investing in new technology which will continue to play a key role in supporting this permanent shift to hybrid work. Businesses that successfully make the long term transition to hybrid working will be the ones who adopt the infrastructure and workplace policies that enable their employees to maintain high levels of creativity and collaboration, wherever they dial-in from,” he said.
The survey was conducted in May 2021 by Vitreous World, who interviewed 2,000 business leaders including general managers, HR managers, C-suite and heads of department.