It’s been over two months since employees across the country have been working from home. As many as 82 percent of office employees surveyed in India miss working from office due to lack of personal interaction, real estate consultancy JLL said in its survey titled Asia Pacific report Home and away: the new hybrid workplace?
JLL’s new Asia Pacific report said while employees enjoyed the freedom of working from home, they missed the human interaction and face-to-face collaboration that working in a professional office environment provides.
The spread of COVID-19 has transitioned 66 percent of the surveyed employees in India into work-from-home arrangements.
The survey was based on the views of 1,500 employees from five countries across the Asia Pacific. Respondents were asked about the impact of extended periods of remote work, access to technology, and whether changes in professional behaviour should become permanent.
Regionally, 61 percent of the total respondents said they missed going to the office which is below the percentage recorded in India. However, both in India and across the Asia Pacific, employees indicated that they would favour a hybrid model combining more flexible work arrangements in the future.
In the Asia Pacific, millennials missed the office more than other age groups. As many as 66 percent said human interactions, professional environment, and place for focused work is important to them. Regionally, 81 percent millennials said they felt technology ready, and 52 percent said they were more productive working from home.
However, some could not afford accommodation with space and amenities vital for working from home.
“Employees across India have successfully transitioned to remote working, but our interactions also suggest that many now crave for the office environment's cultural and human experience. It is becoming clearer that the office is here to stay, but greater acceptance of remote working will force a new workplace model for many corporations regionally,” said Ramesh Nair, CEO and Country Head (India), JLL.
The evolving expectations of employees for hybrid work arrangements will have clear implications for corporate real estate in establishing a shared purpose and culture, said JLL.
In terms of confidence in their company’s future, India emerged a leader with as high as 86 percent employees being confident of their company’s future versus 65 percent for the Asia Pacific region.
Respondents surveyed revealed that 29 percent of employees in the Asia Pacific region are very confident about their company’s future, and 27 percent were very confident in their own prospects.
Work-from-home saw many employees enjoy greater flexibility and control on their personal and professional lives. Corporates will have to redefine their real estate footprint, leveraging distributed and liquid spaces. Home offices, co-working places, satellite offices and the office HQ will all have to co-exist – leading to a truly hybrid office model.
“Offices will continue to play a central role in defining company culture, creating a shared purpose, and meeting employee needs for personal and professional fulfilment. However, COVID-19 will impact how the office looks and feels, as hybrid models comprising flexible work arrangements become mainstream,” said Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head – Research & REIS, India, JLL.
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