A new report by design practice Hassell, The Magnetic Workplace – 2022 Workplace Futures Survey reveals that workers who spend more time in the office are more engaged and have a better sense of belonging and trust than those who predominantly work from home. The report also found that if employers enforce working in the office, workers will vote with their feet and resign.
In cities across the world, foot traffic is returning to central business districts on the weekends but weekday activity remains far below pre-pandemic levels. People are returning to the city but not to work. So how do we attract people back to the workplace and — after over two years of remote and hybrid working — is there reason enough for them to even be there?
In the third edition of our annual Workplace Futures Survey, which interviewed 2,500 office workers across Australia, China, Singapore, the United States and the United Kingdom, Hassell Senior Researcher Daniel Davis uncovered valuable insights into the current state of the workplace and what it takes to bring workers back to the office.
“As the chaos of the pandemic has begun to settle, we’re starting to see the contours of what work might look like in the future,” says Davis. “Companies are experimenting and there are cultural changes underway.”
Amongst the report’s key findings are:
- Employees who spend 60-80 percent of their time in the office are more engaged than those who don’t. We’ve seen a decline in workplace engagement since the start of the pandemic. But people who spend the majority of their working time in an office have a higher engagement, sense of belonging, and trust.
- People want flexibility to choose where they work. Survey responses show companies that require people to be back in the office full-time are more likely to see high levels of resignation than companies that give their employees some autonomy and flexibility.
- Hybrid work is the new normal. In all the countries surveyed, more people than ever are choosing to split their work week between home and the office. It’s not a new trend but the numbers exceed anything we’ve seen previously, signalling a shift in how people are working.
- Home has become more like the office so the office needs to become more like home. People have spent a long time working at home and are expecting more from their workplace. They want more fresh air, gardens and green space, quality coffee, and enough space to focus without distraction — all the things they get when working at home.
The Magnetic Workplace – 2022 Workplace Futures Survey report also reveals the specific features people want most from their place of work in 2022. While the opportunity to meet colleagues, collaborate on projects and socialise are among the key reasons people go into the office, the features people value most when they get there, demonstrate the merging of home and work.
In order of preference, the top five most popular features are:
- Free lunch and food
- Fresh air
- Gardens and green spaces
- Good coffee
- Enough space to focus without distraction
Davis says providing a flexible work culture and a range of features that appeal to different demographics is just one way to create a magnetic workplace. “Providing green space alone isn’t going to cut it,” says Davis. “Businesses really need to be stacking and aggregating a range of amenities.
“By publishing this report, we hope to provide solutions for adding flexibility to a workplace and create a magnetic culture and working environment. The target shouldn't necessarily be getting employees back to the office 100 percent of the time. This report indicates the sweet spot is really a hybrid mode of work where people are back 60 to 80 percent of the time.”
This article was written by Hassell and published by Architecture & Design.
