It may fall on deaf ears as CEOs push rigid RTO mandates, but two new surveys reveal that working remotely doesn’t negatively impact productivity – and can even be good for a company’s bottom line.
A recent investigation by US Tech PR agency Bospar, for instance, suggests that not only do people work better from home but that consumers have strong views against companies who insist their employees be back at their desks full time.
The report on their findings confirms that there has been a shift not only in the expectations of employees about flexible working policies, but in society more generally. However, as the almost weekly RTO mandates are proving, CEOs are set on getting all employees back to the office – sometimes for five days a week – and all evidence against their decision is being simply ignored.
Remote Working Isn’t A Slacker’s Game
A recent remote working investigation involving 1,000 workers was recently carried out by PR firm Bospar in collaboration with Propeller Insights, and published in Forbes this week. What the results revealed was a definite trend towards better productivity while working from home.
Their investigation found that 61% of respondents report being more productive working from home as compared to just 5% who admitted they worked less well when not in the office. Just over a third said that they maintained the same levels when at home and at the office.
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Working from home during the pandemic normalized flexible working arrangements, and people have changed their home setup accordingly. Back in 2022, the US Census Bureau found that the number of workers primarily doing their jobs from their own homes tripled between 2019 and 2021, and that has stuck. The Bospar survey made public this week found that 87.5% now have established dedicated home working spaces.
This change has had an undeniably profound change to the way we work. Employees can now manage their work and home lives with much more freedom, especially if they are saving time by cutting out a commute.
This isn’t just an additional five minutes or so, either. According to a global survey of remote employees published in 2023, the average home worker was saving 72 minutes a day by avoiding the journey to the office. It then comes as little surprise that 81.4% report an improved work-life balance.
RTO Rep Is Costing Companies
What was more surprising was the perception of – and mistrust towards – companies who are pushing their staff to return to the office. This can impact everything from customer acquisition right through to talent recruitment, which can have a knock-on impact on the bottom line.
A study run by Reputation Leaders – the results of which were also published by Forbes – found that 73% of consumers “would be less likely to purchase from companies requiring full-time office work”. 60%, on the other hand, “believe companies should encourage remote jobs to reduce environmental impact”.
The company also asked if a company’s remote working policies would impact a respondent’s decision to work there. It was a resounding yes from 63% of those surveyed, illustrating just how valuable these kinds of policies are to employees.
This chimes with other survey results from recent years about talent acquisition. Remote.com’s 2024 Global Workforce Report, for instance, found that 67% of companies have lost talent to competitors that offer more flexible working arrangements.
Invest in People, Not Buildings
The co-founder of Bospar, Curtis Sparrer, headed off one of the main reasons that companies are getting employees back into the office – and that is because of their pricey real estate. “By investing in people and not buildings you can effortlessly scale your workforce and your footprint” he told Forbes.
As we reported in December, one in three companies (38%) say that using the office space they pay for is a reason behind their RTO push.
But money talks. The cost of maintaining office spaces is huge, especially in CBDs, and so CEOs need to justify owning or renting these spaces by filling desks. Plus, some C-Suites have issued mandates and then swiftly realized that they can’t house all of the employees returning, like Amazon did.
Staff at several companies enforcing return-to-office mandates have voiced their anger at being given these kinds of ultimatums, pointing out in many cases that disabled employees will be hardest hit by strict mandates, and that the increased flexibility that comes with remote working has a positive impact on productivity.
Unfortunately, despite protests and evidence it could actually be destructive for businesses to take such a hard line on remote working, the RTO push looks set to continue across almost all industries as 2025 rolls on.
