[Asia Economy Reporter Hyun-ui Cho] A survey has found that two out of three workers worldwide want to continue working from home to some extent even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
According to a survey conducted from May to June by Ipsos on behalf of the World Economic Forum (WEF), targeting 12,500 workers across 29 countries, 64% of respondents said that flexibility in office attendance should be maintained even after pandemic restrictions are lifted.
This response rate was higher among women than men, and correlated positively with income and education levels, but inversely with age groups. Notably, 30% of respondents said they would consider changing jobs if their employer insisted on full-time office work.
Sixty-five percent of respondents reported higher productivity in flexible work environments including working from home. Conversely, only 33% said they felt more exhausted when working from home.
Only 25% of respondents wanted to work five days a week fully in the office once the pandemic ends, based on a standard five-day workweek.
By country, Belgium (40%), Poland (40%), Japan (36%), and Spain (35%) showed higher rates of this preference, while South Korea matched the global average at 25%.
Respondents who preferred flexible work environments including remote work indicated an average desired number of 2.5 days working from home per week.
By country, India had the longest desired remote work duration at 3.4 days per week, while South Korea’s 2.1 days was relatively short.
In this survey, 51% of respondents expected to return to the office within one year.
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