Dive Brief:

• Employees largely want to stick with their current work arrangements, be that remotely, in person or in a hybrid arrangement, according to Yoh survey results released March 16. For example, 62% of workers currently working remotely would like to remain that way rather than move to a hybrid environment (32%) or go fully in-person (6%). Forty-two percent of workers who work in-person 100% of the time (and who have the option to work remotely) would prefer to remain in-person, as well.
• Some potential exceptions exist, however. Women who work in-person 100% of the time (but could perform their jobs remotely) are more than twice as likely as similarly situated men to say they would want to work remotely, though those percentages are 7% and 2% respectively.
• Notably, workers with children in their households are not more likely to want to work remotely than workers without children. Those with children at home are more likely to prefer hybrid work, the report said.

Dive Insight:

Employees and employers have butted heads since the pandemic began over the longevity of remote and hybrid arrangements — a conflict that has recently reignited as employers mull a return to offices.

Workers who currently work remotely have stated over and over in various studies that they would prefer it remain that way. Robert Half survey results released in April 2021 said that 1 in 3 workers would look for a new job if their employer required them to return to the office full time. But younger workers, especially, have communicated concerns about a lack of in-office time. Generation Z workers said they feel their career growth has been stifled by COVID-19 restrictions, according to the 2022 Business in the Northwest report from Washington State University's Carson College of Business — and that includes a lack of in-person work time prompted by lockdowns.

Conversations around how work will look for the rest of 2022 and beyond may require employers to remember that current work setups reflect deeply personal values of employees, Alexia Cambon, a research director in the Gartner HR practice, previously wrote for HR Dive. Employers that recall workers to the office after years of working well remotely may find employees feel hurt and confused by that decision.

"Any organization that treats its future of work strategy as primarily a business decision to be made by the CEO is treading dangerous waters," Cambon wrote. "Employees, more than ever, feel they have a basic right to decide how work fits into their life."