Is remote working here to stay?
At the start of this financial year over 85% of employees were interested in remote working, with many believing it would give them an opportunity for a better work life balance, this resulted in many employers introducing Hybrid working.
However 12 months on and the mood seems to have changed in this area. There is still a demand for remote working, with around 8% of people saying they would only consider a fully remote role next.
But people are now more interested in a hybrid role, which offers the flexibility to work remotely with the option of being able to still work in the office with the rest of the team.
Unfortunately some employers have seen staff abuse the remote working scheme, and have now shifted to hybrid working but with set days working from home / office rather than giving employees the complete flexibility to choose day to day where and how they will work.
From the research we have conducted one thing is certain businesses will have to look very closely at flexible working. In fact when we did our research flexible and hybrid working was the number one desirable when we asked employees about what benefits were important to them; which means any business that can’t offer this is running the risk of losing staff to the businesses that can.
Finally it’s not just the flexibility around how we work that has seen a shift. People are now thinking more and more about their wellbeing and therefore the benefits they are highlighting as important mirror that.
In our most recent research the most desired benefits are:
- Flexible / Hybrid Working
- Flexible Holidays
- Additional Training
So is remote working here to stay?
From what we have seen and heard it looks like remote working is likely to be overtaken with hybrid working over the next 12 months. This seems to fit around the employees still wanting the flexibility to work from home, but also appeals to the staff that miss being in the office and around the rest of the team.
Ultimately employers will have the final say, but in a market where there are very little candidates available offering no flexibility is likely to have a significant impact on attracting staff.