Over a third (38%) of people who have been working from home throughout the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic feel wellbeing support has increased their productivity.
A study by health insurance and wellbeing solutions provider Westfield Health asked 1,500 people across the UK about their future work plans and wellbeing needs in order to understand how the workforce is feeling and what businesses can do to help them adapt.
Just over a quarter (26%) say their employer currently does not provide support on key wellbeing initiatives and only 11% of organisations with under 50 employees offer mental health support, while 40% of those with over 250 workers do.
The research revealed that 11% of home workers will have no flexible working available to them in the future and 6% felt less engaged due to flexible working arrangements. Conversely, 31% of all employees feel more engaged because of flexible working and 24% of home workers say flexible working is the most important thing for their wellbeing at work.
Additionally, 65% of financial services organisations are extending or introducing working from home and 55% of employees in this sector feel more engaged by flexible working. Almost three-quarters (73%) would like more workplace wellbeing support in the coming months and 59% are worried about going into work, which is more than the UK average of 51%.
Richard Holmes, Westfield Health’s director of wellbeing, commented that the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic and multiple UK lockdowns brought about the biggest change to working conditions seen in decades, shifting many employees to working from home for the first time.
“[The research] also spotlights workplace wellbeing, with some interesting results from the financial sector, which is good news for the industry’s employees because they feel more engaged by flexible working than any other workers. We hope the sector can respond to our survey accordingly and give their employees the support they need after a difficult period,” he said.