The "Great Global Work-From-Home Experiment" created by the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we work and expect to work far into the future.
As organizations ease back into office life, employees and employers are navigating a new chapter in this experiment. One that is now blending remote work flexibility and on-site work.
This new chapter is just beginning to write itself as 2022 progresses and more employees return to the office for at least part of their week.
Navigating the journey back to the office and crafting a long-term remote work strategy will require a clear understanding of how organizations are structuring remote work flexibility and what is working best for employees.
Using a nationally representative sample of 8,090 remote-capable U.S. employees surveyed in June 2022, we explored the following questions:
Insight No. 1:
How many remote-capable employees are currently working hybrid or fully remote?
Approximately 56% of full-time employees in the U.S. — more than 70 million workers — say their job can be done working remotely from home. We call them "remote-capable employees."
Current work location for remote-capable workers as of June 2022:
Insight No. 2:
Where do remote-capable employees expect to work long term and where would they prefer to work?
Hybrid work has increased in 2022 (from 42% in February to 49% in June) and is expected to further increase to 55% of remote-capable workers by the end of 2022 and beyond.
Fully remote work arrangements are expected to continue decreasing from three in 10 remote-capable employees in June, down to two in 10 for the long term, despite 34% wanting to permanently work from home.
Fully on-site work is expected to remain a relic of the past with only two in 10 remote-capable employees currently working entirely on-site and about the same number expecting to be entirely on-site in the future — down from a whopping 60% in 2019.
Insight No. 3:
What happens when remote-capable employees do not work in their preferred location(s)?
The risk: Employees who don't work in their preferred location have significantly lower employee engagement, alongside higher burnout and desire to quit. They simply do not feel well-positioned to do their best work or live their best life.
Changing expectations from workers who feel stuck on-site: On-site workers whose job is remote capable have an increasing desire for remote flexibility. While the majority (65%) prefer hybrid work; the desire to exclusively WFH has doubled since October of 2021.
The endowment effect: Behavioral economics teaches us that people do not like to give up things they have acquired — we're loss-averse by nature. Similarly, many employees working hybrid or fully remote have come to expect permanent remote flexibility.
Making the right decisions today, planning for the future, and adapting as you learn requires a firm understanding of your employees' work experiences and how they are changing. We recommend beginning this assessment process by examining your organization's current state of remote work, business needs, and risks so you can more effectively navigate the nuances of your remote and hybrid work strategies.
Follow us for future briefings on what policies and management practices matter most in leading a successful return to the office.
Ben Wigert is Director of Research and Strategy, Workplace Management, at Gallup.
Sangeeta Agrawal is a Research Manager for Gallup.
Results for this Gallup poll are based on self-administered web surveys conducted June 13–23, 2022, with a random sample of 8,090 adults working full time and part time for organizations in the United States, aged 18 and older, who are members of the Gallup Panel. Gallup uses probability-based, random sampling methods to recruit its Panel members.
Gallup weighted the obtained samples to correct for nonresponse. Nonresponse adjustments were made by adjusting the sample to match the national demographics of gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education and region. Demographic weighting targets were based on the most recent Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older U.S. population.
For results based on the overall sample of U.S. adults, the margin of sampling error is ±2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
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Gallup https://www.gallup.com/workplace/397751/returning-office-current-preferred-future-state-remote-work.aspx
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