Remote working will stay, but we miss the office. 64% of employees want a hybrid model

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Already 6 out of 10 employees currently perform their duties completely remotely. However, this is not an ideal solution. When asked what the optimal work model is, the majority answer that it is mixed, according to a study by Grafton Recruitment and CBRE. What bothers us about working from home? The top three difficulties of working remotely include: limited direct contact with other employees, problems with separating work and private life, and rarely leaving home. CBRE experts point out that these issues are solved by the physical office, which has a symbolic dimension. It is a meeting place and a space for doing work, which can be forgotten once you leave.

– We have been dealing with remote work since March. We have had time to get used to it, and now it is time to start planning it systematically. Most companies will opt for a hybrid model of work, especially since this is what employees expect. This will require quite a bit of planning and strategy, but also the optimal use of the office. Everyone misses it, but it is already clear that its role will change somewhat. It will be, above all, a meeting place, where the common area and access to modern technologies will gain in importance – says Joanna Mroczek, head of Market Research and Marketing in Poland and CEE at CBRE.

Hybrid instead of remote work

It turns out that although we passed the test of remote work quite well, it is not an ideal solution. Employees want to function in a mixed mode – partly at home and partly in the office. In a survey by Grafton Recruitment and CBRE, 64% of employees declared such a desire. Every tenth person indicates that it is optimal to work all the time in the office, and 26% have nothing against full-time remote working.

In the hybrid working model, as many as 43% of employees count on 3 days of working from home, 26% want to be in the office only one day a week and 24% want to work remotely for two days out of five. One day working from home is enough for only 6% of employees.

– In our survey, there has already been a clear upward trend in terms of expected time to work remotely for several editions. Now we want these days to be more than even before the pandemic. Still, not many employees say they want to work remotely all the time. After such a long time since the start of the pandemic, everyone knows very well not only the advantages but also the disadvantages of working from their own four corners – says Joanna Wanatowicz, Business Director, Grafton Recruitment.

Disadvantages of remote work

Already 4 in 10 employees indicate that limited direct contact with other employees is the biggest disadvantage of remote working. Every third person has a problem with the clear separation of work and private life. In third place the disadvantage of remote working is rarely leaving home. Outside the podium, but with an equally high number of indications, is complaining about limited contact not only with colleagues, but with other people (30%). Importantly, one in five employees indicate that they lack the right equipment at home to do their work and have inadequate conditions due to co-habitants, mainly children, who require a lot of attention.

Source: CBRE