Space Matrix, a leading multinational workplace design consultancy firm with a specialization in workplace design and build, recently released a new report based on their ‘The Way We Work’ survey. The findings of the survey reveal that contrary to the fears related to second wave of the pandemic, majority of the corporate workforce is open to working from offices now.
About a year ago when the world was in the grip of first wave of the pandemic, organizations and business leaders were predicting a predominant and permanent switch to remote working. However, up to 85% of people want to return to offices if they are given certain flexibility regarding the number of days they wish to work from on-premises and from home.
About 64% of the people who made the switch had previously never worked remotely. According to the ‘The Way We Work’ survey, despite technology providing adequate support to carry out their regular professional duties, the respondents made three crucial revelations.
- Work from home makes people less productive: About 33% respondents felt less productive working from home due to lack of adequate technology and resources as well as due to the distractions that affected focus and quality.
- Difficult to collaborate while working remotely: 30% people felt that collaboration suffered due to inadequacies of digital communication and coordination issues. There was also a prevalent feeling of isolation among such people.
- Remote working causes fatigue and poor work-life balance: Another 30% respondents complained of being overworked due to longer working hours and inability to follow a schedule. Many of them believed work-life balance was better while working from office.
Speaking about this, Titir Dey, said, “With more than a year into the predominantly remote working environment, there have been a lot of observations related to productivity, organizational efficiency, business growth and above all the ‘employee wellness’ aspect. Business leaders are increasingly focusing on ensuring safe, stimulating and comfortable work processes in their organizations. From the workspace perspective, we are witnessing a strong need for hybrid workspaces which can seamlessly accommodate changing needs for dedicated individual workspaces, collaborative environment, employee wellness as well as technology driven operations.”
With vaccination underway and people becoming accustomed to pandemic protocols, there are discussions regarding whether work-from-home, work-from-office or a more flexible, technology driven hybrid workspace model would dominate the future of offices. ‘The Way We Work’ survey report has brought a lot of meaningful insights into the picture on the subject.
When questioned about the reasons behind the willingness to return to offices, 43% of people said they wanted to return to office so that they could collaborate and work as a team with greater efficiency. Another 37% people felt working from office gave them flexibility of choosing from a variety of individual and collaborative workspaces as well as offered greater access to technology.
Adding further, Titir, said, “The need of the hour is to create hybrid workspaces which can be effortlessly used in different ways by employees at different times. The key for office designers is to ensure flexibility that allows switch from one mode to another seamlessly and without even the slightest disruption to the productivity and comfort of the workspace users. About 60% of our clients are revamping their workspaces in accordance with the emerging needs and we have already transformed over a million square feet space in the last 8 months.”
As ‘The Way We Work’ survey reveals that Hybrid is the Future of Workspaces and offices that can address employee needs such as food, wellness, mental well-being, motivation, neuro-diversity and collaborative tools etc. will be preferred by a larger number of employees.