Flexibility is not something that workers are willing to give up, and enforcing return-to-office mandates could pose retention challenges for organisations.
Employer and employee expectations are divergent. Some employers want workers to return to the office, but employees are resistant to going back to pre-pandemic working patterns, according to survey results from international recruitment company Robert Walters.
Fifty-three per cent of professionals would start looking for a new job if they were asked to work in the office more, in conflict with the expectations of 27% of employers who said they want staff to return to the office more, a press release said. The findings are from a recent poll of 2,000 UK professionals and employers.
Nearly half (46%) of professionals cited associated costs as a key deterrent to spending more days in the office. Other wellbeing factors come into play, including disruption to work/life balance (28%); long commutes (16%); and too many distractions at work (10%).
If employers want workforces to return to the office, they need to focus on incentives, according to Chris Eldridge, CEO of Robert Walters UK, that demonstrate to employees “what can be gained from returning”.
Eldridge advised that incentives from companies should address how they plan to assist employees with the financial burdens of returning to the office; what additional training and mentorship opportunities getting back to the office would bring; and how they plan to have a more open, collaborative, and communicative culture.
The most common benefits of working in the office cited by employees were helping to keep and maintain a weekly routine (36%); brainstorming with colleagues (26%); having in-person meetings (24%); and getting more facetime with senior leaders (14%).
While over one-quarter of employers want to see their employees in the office more, 73% of company leaders said they would not require a full return to the office yet, even if it wouldn’t affect retention.
“With inflation still high and ongoing concerns over the cost of living, spending money on the commute to work, buying lunch, amongst other expenses, presents yet another key obstacle for professionals returning to the office,” Eldridge said. “Leaders attempting to jump the gun and implement a full return … are quickly going to run into trouble — as it’s clear that many professionals won’t readily give up the flexible working routines that they’ve spent the last [three to four] years getting comfortable with.”
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