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Being in the office is more about ‘appearance’, study suggests

21 Nov 2024 2 minute read
Photo Lauren Hurley/PA Wire

Almost half of bosses admit having staff in offices is more about appearance than purpose, new research suggests.

Despite the finding, around three in five businesses plan to have their employees back in offices full time in less than two years, according to a study by jobs site Indeed.

Its survey of 1,500 office workers and 500 employers indicated that people have got used to working from home.

Fewer than one in five workers polled said they went into their office more days than they had to.

Appearances

Indeed said its research found that many workers believed they were being called back to offices with little reason, as 55% of employees agreed that being in the office was to keep up appearances, rather than for any purpose.

Just over half of employers acknowledged they favoured the staff who went to the office more often, while four in five said they believed a four-day week could become a reality for their company in the next five years.

Flexibility

Danny Stacy of Indeed, said: “Flexible working policies are an excellent tool for businesses looking to attract and retain top talent, given the importance that workers clearly place on working in a way that suits them.

“What this looks like will differ between industries and individual businesses, but the good news for employers is that different forms of flexibility are gaining popularity. Not every business is able to offer remote work, for example, and could instead put into place a shortened work week or flexi-time.

“Employees have made it clear in our research that business leaders set the tone for flexible working. Organisations who believe in flexibility and want to ingrain this in their culture must ensure that senior employees lead by example, so workers at all levels feel empowered to follow suit.”


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Karl
Karl
22 days ago

What a sas loss of new techniques to a workplace. All to nake a boss feel like they have their little kingdom. Worse kind of boss you can have. Cold with no thought of valuing the staff

Jeff
Jeff
22 days ago

Never had a problem with it. Met all targets, and got more “paper” work done at home including training and meetings. The tech is there, use it where it suits. Saved money and no time travelling was a bonus. Better work life balance, what is not to like.

Last edited 22 days ago by Jeff
Padi Phillips
Padi Phillips
22 days ago

I dare say that a lot of office property companies fell into a blind panic at the prospect of staffs continuing to work from home as it would seriously affect their bottom line, not to mention devastate a significant part of city centre economies. I also suspect that this aspect is as much a consideration as the topic of the article, which stresses the appearance aspect. There’s a lot positive about the trend towards working from home which could be hugely beneficial to the economy of South East Wales, especially the apparent lunacy of much of Cardiff’s workforce making the… Read more »

rj700
rj700
22 days ago

Personally got more done during WFH as there were less distractions, admin folk though I have seen their workrates plummet. Very much depends on the role and the quality of the employee.

lufcwls
lufcwls
22 days ago

Once a month I have to travel from north to south Wales to work 3 days in the office. While I was recently down my boss decided he was working from home because ‘he has too much work on’, so making the case that the office is too distracting. I agree with him, it is. But then I am made to travel the length of the country once a month just to show face. It is bonkers.

Bob
Bob
20 days ago
Reply to  lufcwls

Once a month is not unreasonable and presumably there are other colleagues who appreciate the face time.

hdavies15
hdavies15
22 days ago

….Almost half of bosses admit having staff in offices is more about appearance than purpose,……Where a business leader reaches that conclusion he/she should have the sense to revert to a form od working that works well. Hybrid working is known to deliver in so many environments.

The only people who have anything to fear from reduced demand for office space are the property speculators who have built so many ugly monstrosities in our major cities. No doubt they are lobbying like mad to get things back to their version of normal.

Garycymru
Garycymru
21 days ago

Offices being primary bases are a long gone thing of the past. The only ones who want this backward thinking are the property owners.
The positive environmental outcomes just by not having 10s of thousands of cars doing unnecessary journeys is a good enough reason by itself, but also, sick days are down, work place stress is considerably down, work/life balance has considerably improved. What kind of business logic would want to get rid of these positives??

Bob
Bob
20 days ago

I suspect many have always freewheeled an amount of time in the office equivalent to the personal time lost to the commute. If you spend three hours getting there and back, they can expect four hours of real work and three hours of chatting, coffee breaks and web browsing.

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