More than half of Gen Z and millennials prefer working from office: Survey

More than half of Gen Z and millennials prefer working from office: Survey

Approximately 80 percent of officegoers from various age groups are open to working in an ‘only office’ or an ‘office-dominant’ hybrid model. Almost 50 percent of Gen Z and millennials prefer the ‘only office’ model compared to Gen X plus of which 39 percent are inclined towards the office-dominant hybrid model, a survey conducted by Awfis, a co-working space provider, and Savills, a global property consultancy firm, has shown.

The survey titled ‘Gen-Flex Workspaces’ was conducted for over a month and responses from more than 500 occupiers across various sectors such as IT-BPM, BFSI, consulting, e-commerce, healthcare, engineering and manufacturing were received. Millennials and Gen Z represented a significant portion of the workforce. Participants from different age groups and both Tier I and Tier II cities were included in the survey.

The survey noted that in the top three metropolitan cities (Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru), 71 percent of employees are required to work exclusively from the office in contrast to 63 percent in other cities. It suggests that there is a higher requirement for in-office work in the top three cities. In the top three cities, the "only office" model is more prevalent, indicating a higher emphasis on in-office work. Other cities are more likely to adopt "only remote" and "remote-dominant hybrid" work models, highlighting a greater preference for remote work or a mix of remote and office work.

According to the survey, the ‘Willingness Pyramid’ shows a strong inclination towards the ‘only office’ work model, primarily driven by Gen Z and late millennials, in cities like Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR. This preference gradually diminishes among the older generations within the same cities. In contrast, in cities like Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune, early millennials show a higher preference for the ‘only office’ model. This preference becomes less pronounced as we move to the younger workforce generations of late millennials and Gen Z, the survey showed.

66 percent are mandated to go to office every day

The survey showed that as many as 66 percent of respondents are mandated to go to the office every day and 50 percent of respondents prefer coming to office. While 23 percent of the respondents are company-mandated, 31 percent of respondents prefer hybrid (office-dominant) and six percent of respondents are mandated to work remotely, displaying a mix of people coming to the office or working remotely for three to four days a week, the survey showed.

Only five percent of the respondents prefer working all five days remotely. These results indicate that both the traditional office and the hybrid work model remain significant, despite some respondents reporting experiencing fatigue with remote work. Only a small percentage have the opportunity to work remotely full-time, it showed.

Challenges relating to return to office

The survey showed that the prominent challenges include the extended commute to work, lack of work-life balance the elevated cost of living (particularly pronounced in Tier I cities), and the need for relocation from hometowns. As many as 31 percent of respondents considered commuting to work as their biggest concern, while 26 percent of respondents considered the high cost of living to be their primary challenge. As many as 16 percent of respondents expressed relocation from their hometown as a challenge and 15 percent of respondents considered poor work-life balance to be a reason to not return to the office.

“Workplace transformations have come a long way from being cookie-cutter and (having) strictly utilitarian design to an open setting facilitating employee communication and inclusivity. Workplaces are now ruled by the two most talked-about generations - millennials and Gen Z. The shifting work preferences of these two successive cohorts, with a significant presence in today's workforce, have notably impacted the dynamics of modern workplaces,” said Amit Ramani, founder and CEO of Awfis.

“In the three years following the pandemic, we've witnessed a radical shift in our understanding and connection with the workplace. These changes, accelerated by global upheavals, pushed workplaces to the brink, resulting in a metaphorical rebirth between 2020 and now. The workplace of the next generation is an arena of discovery, experimentation, and adaptation, with key considerations such as air quality, flexible work arrangements, and the integration of corporate real estate and people functions," said Anurag Mathur, CEO, of Savills India.