Eden Workplace, the complete suite of workplace software for the modern hybrid company, released findings from the latest survey in its Return To Office series. Following the technology companies’ February 2021 report, this edition marks the first analysis of U.S. office workers’ real-time sentiments following their COVID-era re-entry to the workplace either full-time or in a hybrid capacity. The data finds the vast majority (70%) of office workers who have already returned to the office prefer being back in the office either part- or full-time compared with working entirely from home.
Conducted by Wakefield Research, the survey involved 1,000 nationally representative U.S. full- and part-time office workers from July 21 – July 27, 2021, who returned to the office at some point during the prior 1-3 months.
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“The data shows a couple things conclusively: a healthy majority of people are enjoying their return to the office, and that the future is hybrid,” said Joe Du Bey, CEO and Co-founder of Eden Workplace. “That said, only a minority of people gave their employers an “A” for their return-to-office execution, finding their employers lacking on a couple key fronts. For one, a majority of office workers want their employers to protect them by making vaccinations mandatory, yet only a minority of companies have done so. Additionally, today’s workforce wants their employers to use best-in-class tools and processes, as the new hybrid workplace requires a new suite of tools in addition to a more flexible and progressive mindset.”
“As the US enters the fifth wave of COVID-19, bringing new challenges in particular from the Delta variant, it is clear that the return-to-office situation is fragile and requires constant monitoring for best practices,” Du Bey said. “We hope and believe that employers will consider their team’s best interests as they continue to execute the right way to return. While it is clear that a vast majority of team members want to be able to return to the office, the health of our communities must come first, and we are seeing companies be extra thoughtful about the right way to navigate this storm.”
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Eden Workplace—rated one of Y Combinator’s Top Companies, Inc.’s 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies, and San Francisco Business Times’ Fastest Growing Private Companies in the Bay Area—analyzed the data from its latest survey, revealing the current thinking among office workers, who expressed a heavy emphasis on flexibility.
Based on the respondents, results showed more than half (62%) of employees want a hybrid work environment on a permanent basis moving forward. However, 23% have proven to be diehard office fans, wanting to return five days per week, while 15% want to be fully remote. Overall, the survey finds 85% of employees prefer working in the office in some capacity, verifying the February 2021 Eden Workplace Return to Office Survey, which also reflected that 85% of US information economy workers looked forward to returning to the office in some form at the start of this year.
While a majority of employees are happy to be back in the office at least part-time, only 37% give their employers an ‘A’ grade for how they’ve managed resuming in-person work. The vaccine debate played a heavy hand in these sentiments, with only 44% of employers having vaccine requirements, while a majority of employees (57%) would prefer their companies mandated it. Further, 78% of employees whose companies require vaccinations are happy to be back in the office at least part-time. In companies where there is no vaccine mandate, workers were also in favor of returning to the office in some capacity, although to a lesser degree (65%).
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