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During lockdown, many people in the UK got used to the perks home working had to offer. No daily commute, fewer distractions and a better work-life balance, to name just a few.
However, regardless of the benefits, employers have asked employees to return to the office now restrictions have been lifted.
For some, it has been a welcome relief. For others, it has been a challenge that negatively affected their mental health, productivity and home life.
Our 2022 Return To Work Survey of 1,000 UK workers found that 67% of employees have returned to the office in some capacity.
When asked, ‘What do you least enjoy about being back in the office?’ the top three answers respondents gave were:
It’s not just a case that employees simply don’t enjoy certain aspects of returning to the office; for some, it has a much bigger impact on their personal lives.
23% of respondents said their home life had worsened since returning to the office. But why?
Lack of sleep due to the commute and less time to carry out housework were the main reasons employees felt their home life had worsened.
Employees are also seeing a change in their mental health, with 1 in 5 saying they feel theirs has gotten worse since being back in the office.
Once again, worse work-life balance (61%) and the daily commute (50%) were given as the main reasons for the decline.
Based on our survey results, it’s not surprising that many employees have reported a decline in productivity, too.
When asked, ‘Has your productivity been lower since returning to the office?’ 20% of respondents said that it had. The main reasons given for this were:
Whether it’s the daily commute, feeling more stressed or having less time to carry out housework, the office return is affecting the wellbeing of employees. This is then having a knock-on effect on job performance.
To turn this around, employers need to acknowledge what employees don’t enjoy about returning and put measures in place to improve their employees’ experience.
Working from home full time might not be feasible or even the right thing to do, but implementing flexible working hours or increasing the number of days employees can work from home might go some way to helping. It won’t only be suitable for employees; it may help to keep the business running smoothly and effectively.
