More than half (51%) of employees would sacrifice other benefits in order to be able to work from home, according to research by flexible office business Space32.
Its survey of 2,000 UK adults, carried out by Censuswide, also found that hybrid working is the most valued perk among office workers, with three-quarters of respondents aged 18-24 admitting they would rather lose other perks than work from the office full-time.
Health insurance and gym membership were the top benefits respondents would be willing to forgo to work from home (17%), followed by 10% of their salary (12%), and an annual bonus or a promotion (11%).
More than half (53%) agreed employers have the right to ask their teams to return to the office five days a week. Only 11% said that they disagreed or strongly disagreed that employers had this right, while a further 36% were undecided.
Employees aged 35-44 were the most likely to agree that employers could enforce full-time office work, as cited by 61%. Those aged 18-24 were the least likely to agree, with just 50% having this opinion. Meanwhile, 50% of those aged 55 and above said it was reasonable for employers to mandate full-time office hours.
Jon Dweck, chief executive officer and co-founder of Space32, said: “This marks an incredible shift in the way we think about work. Forcing teams back into the office full-time, even if it’s within your rights as an employer, will rarely be well received by your team.
“What these results show is there is no one-size-fits-all approach to the office. Brits have differing views and they all need to be taken into consideration by business leaders when they are deciding how to create the right hybrid working environment. If you want an engaged, committed team, a full-time office mandate isn’t the way to go.”
