Office workers are not remotely fazed by remote working, if the results of a new survey are anything to go by.
Productivity whilst in lockdown has ‘surprised’ almost three quarters of emoployers, with more than half admitting they were nervous about their team’s remote working before the pandemic. And over half now say their teams are more productive than they were in the office.
The research, conducted by the business consultancy Hoxby, would appear welcome news, as lockdown measures look set to continue indefinitely. In fact 69 per cent of office staff expect some form of remote working for at least the next three months and 59 per cent for the next six.
And the shape of office life change forever. A quarter of those questioned believe they’ll remote work at least half the time after restrictions are lifted, compared with just 10 per cent before. And 12 per cent even believe they’ll be working enitirely remotely after the outbreak, compared to just four per cent before.
It’s great to see the world leaving the industrial age behind and adopting digital age working methods
Many business owners and senior managers agree with the statement “remote working is the future of my organisation”, with this period of lockdown making them view the future structure of their business differently.
In fact, 42 per cent of business owners plan to reduce the amount of office space they need; 49 per cent think they’ll encourage more remote working and 34 per cent are considering moving to an entirely remote office, albeit with some tweaks.
Hoxby is itself a company that works virtually, without offices, using technology to connect more than 1,000 freelancers in 43 countries.
“It’s great to see the world leaving the industrial age behind and adopting digital age working methods,” said co-Founder Alex Hirst. “We’ve been banging the workstyle drum for five years now . . we know it can improve diversity, productivity and wellbeing.
“As we’ve seen office workers catapulted to remote working in what is surely the biggest ever remote working experiment, it is fantastic to see productivity and positivity levels so high.
“We know office life has changed for good, and a post-Covid world will see many remote working practices here to stay as whole organisations shift their businesses remotely.”
