LifeSearch’s latest update to the Health Wealth & Happiness Index finds that employers are not listening to staff on how they wish to work.
Just 15% of employees stated that their employer had sought their input or opinion on how they want to work going forward, whether that be in the office, remotely or a hybrid of the two.
In LifeSearch’s Q2 update to its Health Wealth & Happiness Index has found that a hybrid style working set-up was the ideal option for employees, with almost half (44%) saying they’d prefer to have ‘at least some time in the workplace’ and ‘some time from home’, rising to 65% among Generation X (aged 18-24 years), and falling in popularity with age.
Of those who said they’d prefer a hybrid set-up, the most popular option was a 50/50 split (44%), followed by three-quarters of their time in the workplace and a quarter at home (29%) and lastly, three-quarters of time at home and a quarter in the workplace (27%).
Despite, this over one-third of respondents would prefer to be full-time in the workplace, rising in popularity with age, as 46% of over 55s said they’d prefer this set-up (vs 24% of those aged 18-24).
Meanwhile, just 15% of all British workers said they’d like to be working full-time from home, again rising in popularity with age.
Younger workers are also more likely to consider changing jobs if their employer is unable to won’t offer their required working set-up (21% aged 18-24), compared to 12% of total respondents.
Overall, Britons’ Health, Wealth and Happiness has reached its highest level since the Covid-19 pandemic began, rising 22% in the last quarter to a reading today of 91.4, according to the LifeSearch Index compiled with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) and dating back to 2011.
However, the most recent research revealed that less than half of all workers – 42% – are happy with their current working set-up and just 18% are happier than they were pre-Covid.
Almost one in 10 British workers (9%) claim their employer wants them back in the workplace more but they don’t want to go, rising to 13% of Generation Y (25-39 years). Just one in five (19%) feel their employer has been clear on what is expected of them in terms of how they need to work.
Emma Walker, Chief Marketing Officer at LifeSearch said: “There has been a bit of an assumption that most people have liked being able to work from home at least some of the time, and our research backs that up. However, it is clear that working from home permanently is not most people’s idea of a good working set-up, especially not for younger adults, quite likely to do with the fact that two in five under 35s don’t have either a suitable home office or a quiet place to work1.
“The transition back to the office in a post-pandemic world is going to be tough, and most workers don’t feel their employers are being clear enough about what is expected, or that they have had enough of an input into how they want to work.
“It is therefore really important that employers are open and honest with their workers about what they expect of them, but also that they are listening to their concerns and offering the help, support and flexibility they need as we move into this next stage of the Covid-19 recovery.”