A huge majority of employees around the world expect their jobs to be partly remote after the pandemic ends, according to a new study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and The Network. But the desire for a fully remote working set-up is low.
Staff worldwide believe that being allowed to work remotely more often will be one of the legacies of the pandemic. In fact, 89% of people said their preference in the future will be for a job that allows them to work from home at least occasionally.
“People got a taste of remote work during the pandemic, and it has completely changed their expectations,” said Rainer Strack, one of the authors of the study and a Senior Partner at BCG. “It sends a very clear message that nine out of 10 people want some aspects of this to be sustained. Employers can’t treat working from home as an occasional perk anymore.”
The new report based on the study, Decoding Global Ways of Working, is the second in a series of publications that BCG and The Network are releasing about the pandemic’s impact on worker preferences and expectations; reflecting the opinions of 209,000 participants across 190 countries.
FLEXIBILITY IS KEY
Most people prefer a hybrid model, with two or three days a week from home and the rest in the office, according to the study. And it isn’t just those in digital, knowledge and office jobs; many of whom are already working remotely, who want more workplace flexibility on a permanent basis. Even staff who have jobs that require the handling of physical goods, or contact with clients, expressed a desire for setups that would allow them to work remotely at least occasionally.
Most employees, however, want flexibility; “not a 180-degree turn in the traditional model that would have everyone working from home all the time and never going to a physical work location”, the report noted. Only a relatively small proportion of workers – one in four – would switch to a completely remote model if they could.
LOW GLOBAL DESIRE FOR TOTAL REMOTE WORK
The enthusiasm for fully remote work is particularly low in developed countries. Fully remote is the preference of only 7% of people in Denmark and 8% of people in Switzerland and France, according to the report. There is more of an appetite for fully remote work in developing countries. For instance, more than 40% of people in the Philippines and parts of Africa say they would be willing to work from home permanently.
Falling outside the pattern of developed- and developing-country attitudes are the US and China. Around 35% of Americans say they would be happy to do their jobs 100% from home. This relatively high proportion (the US is the only developed country that ranks in the top 10 for interest in fully remote work) may reflect the difference in cost of living between large US cities; and the locations where people would choose to live if they didn’t need to commute. By contrast, only 8% of Chinese workers say they would be willing to work from home full time; a number that places China near the bottom of the list of fully remote work preference, ranking 43rd out of 45 countries analysed.
CHANGING EMPLOYEE PRIORITIES
Apart from work location and practices, the survey also identified some shifts in what people value at work. According to BCG and The Network’s last study on global talent (back in 2018), respondents said that they expected their jobs to provide them with a mix of both short- and long-term benefits. Interestingly the short-term benefits that were most important then, such as good relationships with colleagues and managers and a good work-life balance, still top the list today. And another short term-benefit – pay – has joined them as a priority this year too. However, long-term benefits like career development and skills training have faded.
“It would be surprising if priorities didn’t change, given the economic and existential crisis everyone has experienced,” stated Ana López Gobernado, International Operations Director of The Network and one of the report’s authors. “During a pandemic, people are happy to just have a job and a stable income. At the same time, relationships and a balanced life still matter. Employers need to ensure that these softer needs are met even in virtual work settings.”
RISING SOCIAL & DIVERSITY VALUES AT WORK
Covid-19 is not the only event in the past year that has changed people’s expectations about work. The Black Lives Matter protests and the #MeToo movement have job seekers paying more attention to social values in the workplace. And a succession of climate catastrophes, including the Australian bushfires of 2019 and 2020, have prompted some job seekers to question prospective employers’ levels of environmental commitment.
Around seven in 10 respondents said diversity and climate had become more important issues to them in the last year. In fact, the younger the cohort, the higher the likelihood of the issue growing in importance, noted the study. Half of all workers said they would not accept a job offer from an employer whose policies in these areas didn’t match their personal beliefs. The report makes recommendations on how companies can adapt to workers’ expectations about remote work in the long term, as well as new leadership models and remote work strategies.
The data gathered for Decoding Global Ways of Working also provides insights into worker preferences by gender, age, education level, level of digital skill, and position in the job hierarchy. BCG and The Network will also publish a third report with this data in the coming weeks as part of their latest research into global talent; focusing on the pandemic’s impact on people’s career plans and prospects. Click here for more information.
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