New research from VMWare suggests that many employers are not too keen on hybrid work, despite numerous studies suggesting that WFH can have a positive impact on productivity.
corporate report (opens in a new tab)The Distributed Work Dilemma: When Innovation and Job Satisfaction Compete surveyed 5,300 HR and IT decision makers and employee-level respondents from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Nearly two-thirds (62%) of participants felt their company was “more innovative” when employees were in the office compared to working from home, and four in five (81%) of respondents felt they were more satisfied with their jobs when they were able to adopt a hybrid work routine.
WFH vs. the office
Most hybrid workers also report increased morale (56%), creativity (52%) and collaboration (53%) compared to pre-pandemic levels.
VMWare believes rising economic uncertainty may be driving employers to call back to the office on a large scale in hopes of seeing productivity gains, even though low productivity has no proven link to hybrid or remote working practices.
Some employers still don’t trust their employees to work from anywhere, with 97% of surveyed companies admitting to “monitoring innovation” and 82% of companies imposing an office-only policy.
Shankar Iyer, Senior Vice President and General Manager of VMWare End User Computing, explains, “Research has shown that hybrid working creates happier, more engaged and collaborative teams, which can naturally lead to increased productivity.”
Iyer continues: “Our research suggests that more companies need to implement formal impact measurement metrics to ensure that perceptions do not [outweigh] reality. Those who practice hybrid labor policies seem to take it very seriously.”
Going further, the study found that 72% of EMEA organizations plan to invest “significantly” in their digital culture, with many companies using or considering some degree of automation to take the strain off of employees, thereby increasing overall productivity.