Over 80% of workers don't want to go back to the office full time, survey finds
Parents with kids at home are more likely to want to return to office life, a study by Harvard Business School finds.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
A survey by Harvard Business School has found 81% of people who have been working from home through the COVID-19 pandemic either don't want to go back or prefer a hybrid schedule. Of the 1,500 remote workers surveyed for the study, 27% hope to continue working remotely full time indefinitely, while 61% would prefer to mix working from home with going into the office two or three days a week.
Just 18% of those surveyed said they want to go back to the office full time -- and parents with kids at home were more likely to want to go back. Married people also wanted to go back to the office more so than singles, according to the study's findings.
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"As we're preparing to get back to business as usual, it seems professionals don't want 'business as usual,'" Patrick Mullane, Harvard Business School online executive director, said in a statement. "They want flexibility from their employers to allow them to maintain the new work/home balance and productivity they have come to enjoy."
Before going back to the office, 51% of respondents said they want to be fully vaccinated, while 71% would prefer to wait until everyone is fully vaccinated. More than half of those surveyed also still expect people to be seated at least six feet apart from each other inside the office, along with required use of masks.