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As companies look to start calling employees to return to work in person, many workers are refusing to return to the office. That could have ramifications for the commercial office market if large numbers of workers refuse to return.
Thirty-nine percent of 1,000 employees recently surveyed nationwide said they would consider leaving their jobs if their bosses aren’t flexible about remote work or working from home, according to a poll from Morning Consult, commissioned by Bloomberg.
Younger workers were the least likely to want to return in person, according to the survey. Forty-nine percent of millennial and Generation Z workers felt the strongest on the topic.
A survey conducted last month by realtor.com® of nearly 4,000 U.S. adults showed that almost 60% of new homeowners who purchased in the last 12 months are working from home, and 62% prefer to continue working remotely. Many respondents also said they’d be looking for a new job if they had to return to the office in person full-time.
More employees want to continue with remote work at least part of the week. A JLL survey of 2,000 international workers found that 72% said they wanted to remain home more during the workweek. Only about a quarter of respondents said they wanted to work from the office full-time.
WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani sparked criticism online recently when he said the “least engaged” workers are the ones who want to continue to work remotely. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon added to that, saying that working from home doesn’t work for people “who want to hustle.”
As the rollout of vaccines has started to reach milestones around the country, many companies have considered bringing back workers earlier than they had originally suggested.