Study: Young Employees Do Want to be in an Office – Sometimes
The youngest employees in the workforce simply do not want to work from home all the time. That’s according to the findings of a new study from Boundless. Let’s dive into the facts.
The youngest employees in the workforce don’t want to work from home all the time. That’s according to a new study on remote working by Boundless.
The study, which polled over 2,000 people over 16 in the UK, found that of those who have jobs where working from home is feasible, only 27% actually want to work from home all the time. A more unpopular option than that though is exclusively working from an office, which just 17% said they would opt for as a first choice.
By far and away, the most popular option is hybrid working – some combination of both home and office work allowing employees to split their week.
Work from home exclusively was most unpopular though with the youngest employees in the workforce. When Boundless assessed the responses from those aged 16 to 24, it found just 19% would want to work from home exclusively – the lowest proportion of any age group.
In that age group, 62% of study participants opted for hybrid working.
Again, this makes the youngest employees the ones who are most likely to want this flexibility.
What does this mean for employers?
If you’re trying to hire in a competitive market where there are more jobs than qualified candidates, then every advantage counts. And arguably, location flexibility for employees is starting to be seen as less of a perk and more of an expectation.
So it means that, for candidates who could technically work from anywhere, there’s a good chance they expect you to let them. The majority, in fact, want this from a role.
Hybrid working offers the best of both worlds
Giving your employees the freedom to build their working week with a combination of both office time and work from home time affords them the best of both worlds. Even with excellent software and remote working tools, some employees prefer collaborating in person. It’s also hard to substitute the social benefits of being in an office environment with video conferencing. So for those starting their careers, looking to build networks, learn on the job and in person, some office time is clearly very beneficial. But let’s not forget that the perks of home working are hard to ignore – ditching the commute being one of the most notable.
So it’s clear to see why a combination of the two is a preference of so many people.
