Office Workers Value Working From Home Above a Pay Rise

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• Office Workers Value Working From Home Above a Pay Rise

18 March 2021

Research shows that UK office workers value their new norm of working from home so much that many would forsake career progression, company benefits and even a pay rise to maintain it.

Ezra, a provider of digital coaching, has also found from their research of 1,976 UK office workers that just a quarter of workers plan to return to the office full time. 

The study revealed several reasons for the preference.

Reduced Outgoings – Commuting, Office Clothes and Lunch

Last week, oil giant BP announced it would introduce a hybrid working scheme once lockdown restrictions are eased, expecting full-time staff to work from home for two days a week. Similarly, HSBC CEO Noel Quinn announced that the bank will free up its office footprint by forty per cent.

Ezra’s study found that working from home for just two days a week would financially benefit UK office workers, with the reduced cost of commuting ranking as the largest saving (45 per cent).

Buying lunch was also a big cost saving on for 21 per cent, with office attire (20 per cent) and money spent on work social requirements (6 per cent) also ranking high.

For 65 per cent,  a three-day working week would see them save £100 or less a month, with 22 per cent saving up to £200 and 8 per cent saving as much as £300 per month.

Sacrifices Made to Stay Working From Home

Ezra asked survey respondents what career benefits they would be willing to sacrifice in order to keep an element of working from home after lockdown has ended.

35 per cent of office workers would prefer to work from home more even if it meant less chance of progressing within their role. 28 per cent stated they would give up company benefits such as cars and healthcare to remain working from home for part of their week.

Perhaps most surprisingly, 22 per cent stated they would choose to work from home more even if it meant they had less chance of receiving a pay rise. 9 per cent would also opt for remote working at the expense of their holiday allowance and 7 per cent would take a pay cut to stay working from home.

Founder of Ezra, Nick Goldberg, commented: “It might seem surprising to some that the majority of office workers would opt for their new norm of working from home at the risk of reducing other career benefits. However, over the last year many have embraced this change and it’s given us some valuable time to reevaluate what’s important to us when it comes to the work-life balance.

For many, the idea of keeping the work-life balance tipped in favour of their personal wellbeing has become the priority. Of course, the reality is that the way we work has no doubt changed forever and so going forward, it’s very likely that many companies will embrace a higher degree of remote working. Therefore, it’s also very likely that the option to work from home more won’t come at the cost of career progression.”

Picture: a photograph of a person working at a desk

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 18 March 2021

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