Just one in five UK employees would look for a fully remote job as opposed to 51% who prefer a hybrid environment, where they have the flexibility to choose daily whether to work from home or the office.
Hybrid workforce scheduling app Schej carried out research among UK employees and managers about their experiences in remote, hybrid and office work models. The report Hybrid working 2021: manager’s and employee’s view explored how and why businesses are increasingly implementing the hybrid model, as well as the concerns and benefits involved.
More than one in 10 (13%) preferred a model where they work solely from the office, as many miss the face-to-face interaction with other members of staff as well as the speed and ease of information exchange.
In addition, 39% of managers admitted that one of the benefits of hybrid working was better staff retention, followed by 30% who said it allowed access to a greater talent pool. Meanwhile, 17% believed that saving on office space as a result of flexible working was also one of the benefits.
Graham Smith, marketing founder at Schej, explained that the initial excitement of a better work-life balance and no commuting seems to have been replaced by loneliness, poor team bonding and silo information, as not everyone has a happy home life and sometimes the office can be seen as a safe space for a few hours.
“Organisations that don’t consider a hybrid working model could find themselves fishing for candidates in a very small pool. But telling all your staff to work from home on a Friday is not hybrid. Hybrid means giving your staff genuine choice on where they work and on what days, as harmonising that with the needs of the company requires more than a spreadsheet,” he said.