France leads the UK and Germany in working from the office across Europe, with social interaction, collaboration and tech support the key factors wooing staff back , reports JLL.
The "Hybrid Work Decoded" report surveyed more than 5,000 people in 15 countries.
It shows people are now spending more than half of the week (2.8 days) in the office but find most of their work – focused work – is easier to do from home.
JLL says modern offices need to offer flexibility and private space to allow focused work and boost productivity. In particular it says employers need to offer workers an escape from noisy office spaces to allow them to concentrate on their work.
The benchmarking report also finds:
- France is leading the return to the office in Europe with 3.5 WFO days compared with 2.6 in the UK and 2.3 in Germany
- Tuesday is the most popular day to WFO with Friday the least
- Working hours in the office are only slightly higher than WFH
- The key drivers on returning to the office are social interaction, collaboration, and technology support while work-life balance and wellbeing are WFH strengths
- Half of all virtual collaboration during the week is happening in the office, and half of the office virtual collaboration is done at the desk
- More than a third of people use the office to establish a proper life/work separation
Sue Asprey Price, EMEA chief executive of workplace dynamics at JLL, says it is clear from the report that most people value the office for the social and collaborative elements of the job and are choosing to spend more than half of the week there.
But equally as 55% of the week is on "focused work" employers need to make sure people can do this effectively in the office.
"This means private working space away from the office chatter that allows people to concentrate. Perceptions of noise have changed after the pandemic when people got used to working from a quieter environment. Just 28% now believe the office is the best place for focused work."
Asprey Price says this presents a challenge for the industry to make sure new and redesigned offices offer a choice of spaces to support different activities.
"Both collaboration and focused work need to be accommodated. This means providing enough comfortable workstations with suitable acoustics which accommodate the need for privacy and reviewing inefficient desk and meeting room booking systems."
Asprey Price also says employers need to consider the growing importance of wellbeing to all workers.
"Availability of healthy food, comfortable temperatures, air quality, pleasing views and access outdoor space are all measures which can improve the office experience.”