Employers looking to impose policies that require staff to work in the office five days a week could risk a talent exodus as employees continue to prioritise flexible working hours.
According to new research from the International Workplace Group (IWG), two-thirds of recruiters (67%) in the UK said they have seen an increase in candidates looking for new jobs from companies mandating five days a week in a central office.
Workers want to have more control over the environment they work in, and looking for roles that don’t require daily commutes are top of mind for UK workforces, a news release on the research said. Forty-four per cent of workers cite the cost of commuting as the biggest barrier, with time of commuting (40%) second as a significant inconvenience of return-to-office mandates.
Employers planning to move away from flexible working arrangements are more likely to be viewed in a negative light by workforces, the release said, as workers say they are frustrated with what they perceive as a “lack of trust” from employers.
Just a quarter of workers said they needed to be in a central location five days a week to do their job effectively, the release said, while 55% said they would feel empowered in their role if their employers allowed them to work from a variety of locations.
The findings were informed by survey responses from 1,000 daily commuters and 500 in-house and agency recruiters. Both studies were conducted in the UK.
Mark Dixon, founder and CEO of IWG, said that many workers may no longer consider roles with office mandates that require long daily commutes.
“Flexibility is no longer a nice-to-have for employees,” Dixon said in the release. “They want access to workspaces closer to where they live in an environment that allows them to remain motivated and productive.”
Companies without flexible working, specifically hybrid working, are becoming less competitive, 72% of recruiters surveyed said. Almost half (46%) of workers surveyed said they are actively looking for a new job that doesn’t require a long daily commute, with 21% of employees saying that such a commute contributes to burnout.
“Recent research conducted by IWG among more than 500 business leaders found that three-quarters (75%) of CEOs that had moved to the hybrid model reported improved productivity in their organisations,” the release said.
It is becoming imperative for employers to make work more accessible for workforces if they want to stay in the race for talent, as three-quarters (75%) of recruiters said they have had candidates reject job opportunities that don’t offer flexible working.
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