Workers desperate to return to the office, study finds
The novelty of working from home is wearing off with the majority of employees keen to get back to their desks according to a new survey.
More than 50 per cent of workers intended to return to the office today with three in four saying they were looking forwards to coming back after the Christmas break, a survey of 1,000 workers found.
The study, conducted by the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management, revealed that 60 per cent of employees expecting to get back to full time work this year.
“The first working day of 2022 is a missed opportunity for millions of office workers and for UK business. Three quarters of us will be excluded from our first choice of workplace this week,” Linda Hausmanis, chief executive of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management told the Independent.
“Of course it is right that public safety comes first, but the costs to the economy and people’s health from poorly planned work spaces must not be forgotten.
“Hybrid working should offer the best of two worlds but for far too many of us it offers the worst of both,” Hausmanis added.
The survey revealed that many workers feel that working from home is detrimental to their productivity and well being. One in three employees felt they were not properly equipped to work from home while one in five respondents said their health had suffered as a result of changes to working arrangements during the pandemic.
Under ‘Plan B’ guidance the government has said that employees who can work from home should do so, but stopped short of ordering restrictions on gatherings or closing businesses.
Yesterday, Boris Johnson said that further restrictions will not be needed in the immediate future, but warned that the NHS will be placed under “considerable pressure” in the coming weeks.
Read more: Johnson: NHS will be under ‘considerable pressure’ from Covid for foreseeable future