VANCOUVER – Canada’s federal government recently joined corporate behemoths Amazon and Disney in announcing a mandatory return (at least part-time) to the office. While those public servants work through the transition, employers in Canada continue to face resistance in getting their employees to do the same.
A new study from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds that as employers grapple with a tight labour market, tending to favour employees, decisions about forcing a return to the office now represent a risky proposition.
For those currently working from home at least some of the time, one-in-three (36%) say they would return to the office full-time with no qualms. That said, a significant group would either return but consider switching jobs (31%) or likely hand in their notice (21%) shortly after being ordered back.
Many Canadian workers are adjusting as a forecasted short-term trend of working from home has become a long-term reality. With this comes different experiences. Four-in-five (84%) who work on site say their connection to colleagues is either good or great. This, compared to half of those who set up their office at home (50%). On the other end of the benefit spectrum, four-in-five who work from home (81%) give a positive appraisal of their work-life balance, compared to 54 per cent working on site.
Though positive and negative exsist for both arrangements, productivity does not appear to be impacted.
Nearly the same number of workers say they are productive both on-site (77%) and at home (81%).
Women are more likely than men to prefer to work from home some or all of the time (58% women, 45% men) while those under the age of 35 are less likely than older Canadians to say they want to work from the office all of the time (20%).
Among those who worked from home over the past three years, one-in-five (21%) are back on-site full time and 19% still work from home. Similar sized groups are at home more than the office (14%) and vice versa (15%).
Fewer than one-in-five (17%) say they split their working hours at home and at the office.
Among those who have returned to the office after working from home at least some of the time over the past few years, half say it was their employer’s decisionwhile one-in-three say it was their choice to make (36%).
