Many organizations are planning a combination virtual method that incorporates online work with time at work as they prepare for the post-pandemic future. This prudent decision follows significant productivity gains during the pandemic.
However, while productivity has increased, many workers reported feeling nervous and burned out. Global epidemic productivity gains may be unaffordable in the future unless rulers address the references of employee anxiety. 1 This is because stress is known to decrease job satisfaction, harm interpersonal relationships with coworkers, and impair work performance.
It’s no surprise that even after COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic, the number of workers working remotely skyrocketed to 70% of total in 2022, with 97 percent saying they’d work remotely again for the rest of their life.
Our survey findings reveal the source of concern: employees believe they haven’t heard enough about their employers’ plans for post-COVID-19 employment conditions. Employees say that while organizations have stated their posting to embrace combination virtual work in the future, too few have shared comprehensive guidance, policies, preconceptions, and approaches. Employees are concerned with the lack of virtual specifics.
The charts that follow examine our survey results and shed some light on what staff members need from the future of work.
Focus Point
- A virtual office is a business that operates as a single unit and also has a physical mailing address but does not have a physical location.
- Because the costs of running a virtual office are much lower than those of a traditional office, this type of set – up is popular between many small businesses and startups.
- A virtual office agreement broadens job opportunities for employees as well as hiring opportunities for companies.
Employee well-being and productivity are benefiting from organization and clear communication.
I feel included. Even high-level interaction about post-COVID-19 work arrangements improves employee happiness and productivity. Organizations that communicate more detailed, distant policies and approaches, on the other hand, see higher increases. Employees who believe they have been included in more thorough communication are approximately five significantly more likely to occur productivity gains. Because correspondence about the future can influence performance today, management should understand increasing the regularity of their worker notifications to share what has already been decided and to interact with what is still unclear.
The majority of organizations have not clearly expressed their vision for post-pandemic work.
Communication failure. Employees value a plan described for post pandemic work, but 40 percent have yet to hear about one from their institutions, and then another 26 %say what they have heard is vague.
Individuals who are not communicated with are concerned about the future.
Workplace anxiety. Well almost half of employees in organizations that communicate vaguely, or just not, about the future of post pandemic tasks are concerned or anxious. Anxiety has been shown to reduce work performance, job satisfaction, and interpersonal relations with coworkers, among other things. The global economy’s productivity loss due to poor mental health, including anxiety, could be as significant as dollar-1 trillion annually.
Almost half of all staff report being burned out, which is likely a lack of representation of the true number.
I’m exhausted. Employee burnout is also compounded by the lack of effective communication about the future of post-pandemic work. Almost half of those polled say they are experiencing symptoms of workplace burnout. Employees who are burned out are less inclined to answer survey queries, and the most fired individual people might have left the workforce and many women who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 crisis.
Individuals who are experiencing anxiety as a result of a lack of internal communication about the future are much more likely to experience burnout.
Burnout is more pronounced in people who are anxious as a result of a lack of internal communication. Employees in this group were 3 times more likely to feel generally burned out. The obvious suggestion for organizational leaders is to share more often with employees, even if the future is uncertain, in order to enhance employee well-being now.
After the pandemic, most staff members would choose a more flexible workplace model.
50% of workers would prefer a more flexible working model after the pandemic.
Returning to a totally onsite model may have significant talent implications.
Indeed, more than a significant proportion of those polled said they would consider changing jobs if their company returned to 100% on-site work.
Respondents Percentages In Different Countries
Answer Type | Asia | Australia | Europe | Latin America | Us | Total |
Very Likely | 4% | 16% | 7% | 8% | 12% | 8% |
Likely | 18% | 27% | 19% | 25% | 15% | 21% |
Neutral | 30% | 25% | 27% | 24% | 21% | 26% |
Unlikely | 25% | 15% | 18% | 23% | 18% | 21% |
Very unlikely | 18% | 23% | 28% | 22% | 32% | 25% |
In the future, the majority of workers would really like to work at home at least 3 days per week.
Staying at home. More than half of corporations and government workers say they would also like to virtual office at least 3 days per week once the global epidemic is over when describing the hybrid version of the future.
Respondents Percentages In Different Countries
Answer Type | Asia | Australia | Europe | Latin America | Us | Total |
5 day | 15% | 22% | 16% | 21% | 32% | 18% |
4 day | 8% | 16% | 11% | 12% | 13% | 22% |
3 day | 20% | 24% | 22% | 24% | 20% | 23% |
2 day | 18% | 22% | 22% | 21% | 18% | 20% |
1 day | 12% | 10% | 10% | 9% | 7% | 9% |
Never | 20% | 15% | 24% | 10% | 14% | 16% |
Employees with small children are more likely to prefer the remote working model.What parents say.
Workers with young kids are most likely to favor flexible work environments, with only 8% indicating a preference for a fully on-site prototype in the future. Employees who do not have children under the age of 18 are three times more likely to favor on-site work, however the large percentage still prefer extra flexible models.
Employees’ future hopes and fears reflect a concentration on flexibility, well-being, and compensation.
Employees are more interested in policies governing collaboration, connectivity, training, and technology.
More than a third of the respondents consistently rated clear hours and collaboration expectations among their top five policies; many other collaboration policies, such as technologies that allow on-site employees to dial in to remote meetings and documentation guidelines, also got substantial support.
