Flexible working declines after years of growth

Being in the office has become more of a priority for white-collar workers, reveals a survey by Johnson Controls Global WorkPlace Innovation. The 2010 Global WorkPlace Solutions Flexible Working Survey, developed in partnership with the London-based Office Productivity Network, shows that flexible working has declined to 2003 levels, reversing years of growth. The research also shows a significant reduction in the amount of time that employees choose to work from home or as “mobile workers”.

Study author and Director of Global WorkPlace Innovation for Johnson Controls Global WorkPlace Solutions, Dr. Marie Puybaraud said: “In each of the six Flexible Working Surveys that we have conducted since 2002, we have seen an increase in flexible and mobile working, coupled with a decline in people choosing to work from the office. This latest study is significant because it shows that between 2007 and 2010, this trend reversed.”

 

Flexible Working Survey 2010

Flight to the office
Compared to the last Global WorkPlace Solutions Flexible Working Survey, conducted prior to the global recession, working from the office more than doubled from 18 percent in 2007 to 45 percent in 2010. This “flight to the office” by workers has been at the expense of flexible and mobile working which had grown in popularity since 2002. Just 20 percent of those surveyed in 2010 worked from home regularly compared to 36 percent in 2007. Similarly, those working on the move, known as “mobile workers, fell from 46 percent in 2007 to 35 percent in 2010 – the lowest level since 2003.

The principal reason that respondents gave for going to the office was to meet people (75 percent), followed by to collaborate (11 percent) and interact with others (4 percent).

However, Puybaraud believes the survey provides indirect evidence of the impact that the global recession had on employee working patterns. “There has been a very clear return to the office by workers following the global recession. The downturn and threat of job loss led to a lot of insecurity in the workplace, so another reason behind this trend could be that employees want to be seen at work as a way of demonstrating their worth to their managers.”

“Collaborative technologies are readily available and there is no evidence that companies have driven this trend to work in the office, so this appears to be an employee behavioral response to tough times and uncertainty. As the global recovery continues we should see that more people work flexibly. Organizations should continue to adopt emerging technologies and policies that will support a tech-savvy workforce and globalized teams. A company’s ability to support a flexible workforce can be a strategic tool in the war for talent,” said Puybaraud.

Culture of flexibility remains
Paul Bartlett, Chairman of Office Productivity Network, said: “There is a fascinating paradox in that there has been a return to the office by once-mobile workers, but there is still the recognition that business agility, such as that provided by flexible working, is vital for the success of many organizations. Although it has reduced, the culture of flexibility is well established and has provided many companies with the ability to respond to adversity. It could also be behind the much lower levels of job losses than many forecasters were expecting.”

 

About the survey
The Johnson Controls Global WorkPlace Solutions Flexible Working Survey uncovers key trends on flexible working and mobility. The survey has tracked the working trends of a core of respondents and was performed in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2010 – all under the direction of Dr. Marie Puybaraud. The 2010 Global WorkPlace Solutions Flexible Working Survey had 479 respondents from a number of countries the vast majority of whom had taken it in previous years.

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SURVEY - KEY FINDINGS
  • 150% increase in those working from the office
  • 23% decrease in mobile working
  • Almost 50% fewer workers using hot-desks in
  • Significantly more workers using shared desks
  • Meeting people is the most important reason why people say they go to the office
  • 64% believe that going to the office is important to extremely important
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