Undelucram.ro: 40% of employees would look for another job if the employer asked them to work mainly from the office

Approximately 40% of employees would look for another job if the employer asked them to work mainly from the office, and they did not want this, according to a survey carried out at the end of August by Undelucram.ro, the largest online community of employees in Romania.     

According to the same study, around 33% of the HR professionals surveyed said that in the companies they represent, employees work from the office two days a week. 2,813 employees and 537 HR experts responded to this survey.

Two jobs at the same time

Thus, 61% of employees currently work mainly from home (3-5 days a week), and the rest from the office. At the same time, 72% want to continue like this – to work from home, while only 28% would like to work mainly from the office (3-5 days a week).

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Those who prefer to work from home chose this way of working because they find it more efficient (62% of employees) or because they can also take care of family & home during working hours (57%). Around 13% say they like working from home because it allows them to have another job.

65% of employees would only return to the office if they were asked to do so

Moreover, if they were to return to work from the office, around 65% of employees would only take this step if the company required it. Approximately 50% of employees would work from the office to socialize, and 27% for efficiency reasons.

If the company asked them to work 3-5 days a week from the office, 54% would not agree.

Also, if they were required to work from the office most of the time and they did not want to do so, about 40% of employees would look for another job. About 36% of employees would talk to other colleagues to convince management and the HR department to change this decision, and 25% would comply with the decision to go to the office because they have no alternatives.

More than half of employees (52%) say their employers did not ask for their opinion when deciding the way of working.

In contrast, 90% of the HR professionals surveyed say they have consulted with their employees about returning to office work. About 7% have not done so, and 3% say they will.

83% of the HR specialists have discussed back to the office within the department or with the management

On the other hand, 83% of the HR experts say they have discussed this year within the department or with the company management the idea of recalling employees to work mainly from the office. Around 13% did not talk about this topic, and for 4%, the discussion was pointless because they worked only from home in the last two years.

Around 90% of HR professionals say that management supports a balance between work at the office and work at home. About 6% of the HR experts say that managers encourage working from home, and 4% would like to call employees to the office.

46% of companies have no rules regarding remote work

Human resources experts also say that following discussions with the company’s management, they have decided as follows: work should be carried out from the office two days a week (32% of HR specialists), work should be carried out from the office four days a week (19%), the decision should be up to the employees (12%), work should be carried out from the office three days a week (9%), employees should come to the office every day (7%), employees should work four days remotely and one day from the office (3.3%), exclusively remotely – with certain exceptions (3.1%) and employees to work three days remotely (2.9%).

Although many businesses have been working from home for over two and a half years, only 54% of HR specialists say that there are rules regarding telework in the companies they represent. At the same time, 44% of employers said they would establish such regulations.

Employers’ concerns

The main concerns of HR specialists regarding remote work are: the fact that employees no longer communicate as well with each other – which can affect efficiency (33%), the tendency for employees to no longer want to work from the office (29% ), employee efficiency (24%), maintaining employee motivation (24%), the fact that HR initiatives are no longer visible enough (10%) and the fact that there is an economic crisis and employees need to be more united and efficient, but they do not want to return to the office (8%).

“Although the pandemic has passed, we see its effects very strongly on the labor market. Specifically, more than 60% continue to work from home and would only return to the office if asked to do so. Moreover, almost half of employees would look for another job if forced to work from the office. Thus, HR specialists are in a difficult position between preserving employees’ freedom to choose their way of working and a growing need for efficiency. In fact, if we add up the percentages from the study, we notice that for over 65% of HR specialists, the main concerns regarding remote work are related to efficiency. Probably the solution is for employers to be as attentive as possible to the well-being of employees and to find new methods of motivating and retaining employees continuously”, says Costin Tudor, founder and CEO of Undelucram.ro.