COVID-19 has impacted our way of life and more so the way we work. Working from home has become the new normal, and we’ve literally turned our homes into an office and digitized our work. In a little over six months, we have learned how to remote work, learn to video conference as well as collaborate in the cloud.
According to a survey by FlexJobs 51% of workers claim they have been more productive since starting to work remotely. With only 5% saying they have become less productive.
Top Things Employees Miss About Working in an Office
Despite these perks working from home isn’t all it is cracked to be for some. In fact, employees still miss the office- particularly human contact. Among the things they miss working in the office include:
- 49%, miss seeing their colleagues
- 44% miss personal interactions with colleagues
- 26% miss in-person meetings
- 20% of workers say they find it difficult to “unplug” when they work from home.
- 14% miss the water cooler chats,
- 14% the stimulation of the office environment
- 11% feel lonely working at home
Relationships in the Office
Relationships between colleagues are important as they help forge teamwork. With these connections lost or circumvented by technology, employees risks focusing more on their individual roles rather than the output of the entire team. This might also cause stress and negatively impact collaboration as well.
Of the more than 4,000 surveyed, an overwhelming majority (81%) would like to see flexible work options moving forward. In fact 30% have already made requests that have been approved by their employers to continue working remotely in the post-pandemic era.
Companies also seem to be on board with 13% having been told by their employers to continue working from home. An equal number (13%) have had their request to continue remote working denied.
In fact, 65% now prefer to work remotely full time even after the pandemic. While almost a third (31%) would like to see a combination of remote working and working at the office in the future.
Among the factors that made remote working enticing include a quieter work environment (68%), less distractions from colleagues (68%), control over the workplace (66%) and of course the comforts of homes (65%).
Image: Depositphotos.com
This article, “Top Seven Things People Miss About Being in an Office During COVID-19” was first published on Small Business Trends