The new U.S. Work From Home Survey 2020 from Gensler reveals how people feel about working from home after months of being remote. Here, four key takeaways gleaned from the responses of more than 2,300 U.S. workers spread across 10 different industries.
1. The office is here to stay.
An overwhelming majority of people (70 percent) want to work in the office for most of the week. In contrast, only 12 percent say that they want to continue working from home full-time.
2. Technology is no substitute for face-to-face interactions.
The top reason employees want to return to work? The people. In fact, 74 percent of workers say people are what they missed most about the office — specifically face-to-face interactions with colleagues.
More than half (55 percent) of workers say that collaborating is more difficult when working from home, while 51 percent say it’s challenging to stay up-to-date on what their colleagues are working on.
3. Younger generations are less productive at home.
Millennials and Generation Z are less satisfied with their work from home experience than their older peers. They feel that they have accomplished less than older generations at the end of the day and have trouble avoiding distractions and maintaining a work-life balance.
4. Employees expect to see major changes to their office.
While the vast majority of workers are looking forward to going back to the office, they want to return to a workplace that’s better than the one they left. Employees expect to see more space, more support for remote work, and enhanced health and safety measures.