After 12 months of working from home with patchy WiFi, 80 percent of employees are eager to return to offices that are technologically advanced to help support the increased reliance on digital services
A third of employees are looking forward to taking advantage of workplace culture and to reconnect with colleagues and their building’s community
Sustainability and eco credentials are high on the priority list, to the point where 18 percent state that will not return to an office that is not sustainable and will take a pay cut to move to a company operating from one
New research from WiredScore, the internationally recognized digital connectivity and smart building rating systems for real estate, reveals the top three priorities for employees returning to the office post-pandemic. After a year of predominantly working from home, employers are now in a position where they need to entice employees back into the office. More and better-connected experiences through cutting-edge technology, greater opportunities to collaborate, and increased eco credentials are what employees are crying out for.
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The Sustainable, future-proofed and connected – the office beyond 2021 report reveals that employers will need to look at how they can re-think office spaces, making them desirable, inspirational and innovative environments that will make employees want to come back. This, along with the reliance that workers now have on digital services in order to do their jobs, means that four fifths (80 percent) of employees say that it’s important for them to work in a technologically advanced office. This includes over a quarter (26 percent) expecting their office to have the latest cutting-edge technology in place and available for them to use.
Unsurprisingly, employees are also desperate to reconnect. A third (33 percent) want to take advantage of the culture when they get back into the office and will be looking to get involved with their building’s community and services. A fifth are also eager to be part of local networking, community and volunteering events.
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Smart employers will look at how they can use digital services to enhance this aspect of office culture, especially when you consider that nearly a third (30 percent) of respondents say that they would like to have access to smart employee engagement solutions to help them discover who is in the office and where.
One of the hottest topics of today is also seeping into expectations for the post-pandemic office environment: sustainability. A significant three fifths (63%) of employees highlight the ability to work in an office that is environmentally sustainable as important to them. 18 percent even said that they wouldn’t work in a building that isn’t sustainable and would take a pay cut if it meant moving to a company that operates from one.
The good news for employers, however, is that employees are eager to get involved in making their office environment more sustainable. When they get back into the office, more than one third (38 percent) of employees will be looking into environmental information and control systems (such as digital control of temperature, lighting and air quality dashboards) and how they can use them to make their office a more sustainable and healthier place to work.
Arie Barendrecht, Founder and CEO at WiredScore, commented: “If everything goes to plan, employers don’t have long to get offices ready for a workforce whose expectations of the working environment will have changed significantly over the last 12 months. Employees have proven that they can work from home, so landlords and business leaders now need to collaborate on creating experiences that remove friction, deliver inspiration, and maximize productivity for teams in the workplace. Leveraging leading-edge technologies to establish smart, sociable, and sustainable spaces will be key to the success of the future office.”
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