People across the country seem to have gotten the hang of working from their homes — and they want to stay there.
In a new “Back-to-Normal Barometer” shared with Secrets, big majorities of all age groups said that they have been as effective from home as they were when offices closed in mid-March as the coronavirus slammed into the nation.
And according to the survey, more workers want to either stay at home to work once the virus office bans are lifted or at least work from home a couple of days a week. The numbers were highest for middle-aged and older workers.
“A big mistake employers should avoid is assuming that just because they personally are eager to return to pre-pandemic operations, all their employees are as well,” warned Rich Thau, president of Engagious, one of the three firms, along with the Sports and Leisure Research Group and ROKK Solutions, that conducted the survey.
The three have been sharing their data with Secrets to show how workers and firms are approaching returning to the office. In a recent survey, some workers said that they would sue employers if they caught the virus in the office.
The new “Barometer” found that many employees remain resistant to returning to work. In many urban areas, offices remain closed or at half the staff levels.
“When asked to rate the statement, ‘I’m ready to return to my place of work full time,’ 26% of respondents 45-64 strongly disagreed, while another 16% somewhat disagreed. That 42% combined disagreement was much higher than for younger age cohorts. In fact, only 33% of those 25-34, and 22% of those 35-44, similarly disagreed,” the survey analysis read.
Jon Last, president of the Sports and Leisure Research Group, said, “Our findings suggest some potential foundational changes to what constitutes the workplace.”
The three firms are providing their “Barometer” to firms as they ready for reopening.
“Our research takes an unprecedented review of consumer attitudes of the past compared to today’s environment so that a vast variety of industries can make strategic business decisions to navigate the difficult terrain ahead to get back to normal,” said Ron Bonjean of ROKK Solutions.
