Dive Brief:
- More than half of HR professionals responding to a recent survey said they want to work from home permanently, according results from Fishbowl, which describes itself as "a workplace social network."
- Of the 17,650 professionals surveyed in various industries, 55% said they would elect to continue working remotely, Fishbowl said May 26, announcing its findings.
- Broken down by industry, tech workers (68%) displayed the greatest interest in making their remote work accommodation permanent. Teachers made up the biggest group of those who said they would not choose to continue the arrangement if given the option.
Dive Insight:
The expansion of remote work is likely to be one of the lasting changes the novel coronavirus brings to the professional realm. Studies are reporting that employers plan to make this portion of their pandemic response plans permanent; a recent Willis Towers Watson report concluded that, though the percentage of employees working remotely will drop from its current 53% to 22%, it will remain much higher than last year's 7%.
Some visible employers are heralding the wave of such adjustments. Facebook announced it will likely adopt remote work as a long-term change, as social distancing requirements will allow for only "25% density" in its existing offices. In the next decade, half its workers could be remote, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
These updates track with what some workers predicted in early April through a OnePoll and Citrix survey — that their organizations will be much more relaxed about remote work after the pandemic subsides. But respondents highlighted problems with the arrangement spanning from tech issues to productivity hurdles.
Such findings turn the spotlight to employers and managers; the onus is on them to train and support workers to cope with the circumstances, sources previously told HR Dive. Managers, in particular, will need to consider how they communicate with direct reports, especially those who are struggling.
