Study shows that 62 per cent employees happier when working remotely

As parts of the world open up and hybrid work becomes a reality amid the pandemic, about 62 per cent of employees said working remotely makes them happier, according to a new survey on Friday.

About 56 per cent of employees said they are more productive when working remotely and 61 per cent said they can get more done in an eight-hour workday when remote, said the Forrester study commissioned by LogMeIn, a leading provider of Cloud-based solutions GoToMeeting. However, only five per cent of decision makers surveyed believe remote workers are more productive, and 70 per cent said employees in the office are more trustworthy.

The study showed that nearly three-quarters of workers said the pandemic made them want to work more remotely in the future, with 83 per cent of employees saying that they are more likely to stay at their company if they are allowed to work flexibly. About 60 per cent of respondents said they were even willing to accept less pay in a trade for flexibility.

The study was conducted using two online surveys, one of 582 remote work decision-makers, such as those leading human resource or IT departments, and a second survey of 427 employees each at global organisations of 10-2,500 employees, shows they may not be. The research suggests that companies need to invest in establishing flexible work policies and programmes, and address a sizeable disconnect in trust between decision makers and employees.