An ideal working week, post COVID-19, seems to be one where as many as 79 percent of the workforce wants to work remotely from home at least once a week, according to JLL’s Workers Preference Barometer for India.
Post the pandemic, employees prefer spending three days working remotely and two days in office, with office remaining a key element to the aspirational working regime, it said.
According to the survey, 21 percent of the workforce does not want to work from home in the future, as opposed to 16 percent in October last year. However, flexibility is becoming more attractive.
As many as 91 percent of the workforce want to choose their schedules and working hours as per the latest results, up from 69 percent as per the October 2020 survey results, it said.
A global research survey of over 3,300 respondents was undertaken to create this barometer which was consolidated over time with two previous surveys over the whole year of the pandemic starting March 2020 and repeated in October 2020 and March 2021.
In India, all respondents were over 18+ and working professionals and working with companies with at least 100 employees or more. Over 90 percent of the surveyed were employed with private companies with big corporates comprising 70 percent of these and SMEs forming the rest.
Additionally, quotas on age, managerial responsibilities, company size and industry were used as well to get a more homogeneous profile of employees participating in the survey.
While the workforce shifted seamlessly to Work From Home (WFH) due to the pandemic for over a year now, the prolonged and enforced homeworking has brought to the fore the need to “connect’ with colleagues, while more traditional levers such as ‘purpose in the job’ and ‘visibility’ are not the top priorities they used to be, the survey said.
The social interactions that an office space provides are being sorely missed, to the extent that 41 percent of the workforce is craving ‘real’ human interactions with colleagues while 31 percent of them miss a change of scenery.
Amongst the most missed aspects of the weekly routine, coffee and socialising in social activities, personal time for relaxing and spending time with family stand out, it said.
The hybrid work environment retains its appeal, but more people want to return to the office at least once a week, says the survey findings.
Almost 75 percent of the surveyed employees want to work from office at least once a week compared to 52 percent in October 2020. Significantly, still 79 percent employees today want to work from home atleast once a week compared to 84 percent in October 2020, indicating that homeworking as part of flexible work patterns is a key desire, it said.
The survey also brings to the fore renewed aspirations from the workplace of the future. This will act as a barometer for the employers and occupiers to understand changing needs from the workplace and workplace strategies, which will provide a more balanced work-life pattern to employees as they aspire to return to purpose-led offices in the future.
“The offices of the future will have to be more human-centric, putting health and well-being at the forefront. Almost 60 percent of those surveyed believe that a workplace that promotes a healthy lifestyle and safety is a key priority. There is a greater understanding and need for work-life balance amongst employees now,” said Radha Dhir, CEO and Country Head, India, JLL.
JLL’s research shows that more than half of respondents feel overwhelmed by a huge mental load and are worried about their job security, while majority of young parents have expressed that they have many personal and professional responsibilities to cope with which is intensifying the feeling of being overwhelmed.
According to the survey, 91 percent of employees who are highly satisfied with their office environment strongly miss their offices. However, office satisfaction rate has also dropped as employees now have renewed expectations of their office environment.
“We have witnessed renewed demands of the workforce for the workplaces with employees’ rising aspirations and expectations. Employees are more demanding about what the office should offer them in the future. They are looking for a working ecosystem that facilitates flexible work arrangements, physical and financial safety, and a desire for spaces that create a strong sense of community and culture,” said Dr Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head of Research & REIS (India), JLL.
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