Hybrid workers who split their time between office and home working are less likely to feel burned out than their fully office-based counterparts, new research has found.
The study among full-time employees aged 21-65 by global enterprise cloud communications RingCentral discovered that 22% of those working solely from offices were likely to experience burn out, compared to only 15% of hybrid workers.
As many as one in five (20%) of the 1,000-plus adults surveyed claimed to dread working from the office, while 10% said they feel unproductive, and more than half (51%) believe they are more productive when working from home.
Louise Newbury-Smith, country manager, UK and Ireland at RingCentral, said: “Productivity is the backbone of the UK economy, and business leaders need to ensure they are doing everything they can to maximise output, given the gloomy economic forecast.
“With 10% of the workforce currently feeling unproductive, businesses should consider anything that has the potential to improve workforce productivity. The data sends a clear message: businesses that want to keep their workforce productive must cater to modern needs and offer a hybrid working environment, or risk suffering during the recession.”
The study further found that employees value flexibility so highly that many would be prepared to make sacrifices to have it. Nearly three in five (58%) would change roles or industries for remote or hybrid working arrangements, and a similar percentage (60%) would prefer to work remotely or hybrid for an extra three years to working full-time in an office for the remainder of their career.
RingCentral believes employers should therefore embrace a hybrid working model to avoid additional suffering during the recession.
Newbury-Smith added: “The pandemic proved that with the right collaboration tools, it is possible to connect and empower the workforce and build highly productive teams, all the while giving employees the flexibility to manage work around other commitments.”
