• 56% (70+ million) of U.S. workers can do their job working remotely
• When an employee’s location preference doesn’t match their current work location, burnout rises while engagement drops

1. How many remote-capable employees are currently working hybrid or fully remote?

Approximately 56% of full-time employees in the U.S. — more than 70 million workers — say their job can be done working remotely from home. We call them "remote-capable employees."

Current work location for remote-capable workers as of June 2022:

· 50% are working hybrid (part of their week at home and part on-site)

· 30% are exclusively working remotely

· 20% are entirely on-site

2. Where do remote-capable employees expect to work long term and where would they prefer to work?

Hybrid work has increased in 2022 (from 42% in February to 49% in June) and is expected to further increase to 55% of remote-capable workers by the end of 2022 and beyond. This shift aligns closely with the preferences of many remote-capable workers, as 60% want a long-term hybrid work arrangement.

Fully remote work arrangements are expected to continue decreasing from three in 10 remote-capable employees in June, down to two in 10 for the long term, despite 34% wanting to permanently work from home. Nonetheless, long-term, fully remote work arrangements are expected to nearly triple compared to 2019 figures.

Fully on-site work is expected to remain a relic of the past with only two in 10 remote-capable employees currently working entirely on-site and about the same number expecting to be entirely on-site in the future — down from a whopping 60% in 2019. A mere 6% want to work entirely on-site going forward. Given that more than 90% of 70 million employees say they don’t want to come back to the office full time, it’s time to redesign your workplace expectations and your management policies and processes.

3. What happens when remote-capable employees do not work in their preferred location(s)?

The risk: Employees who don’t work in their preferred location have significantly lower employee engagement, alongside higher burnout and desire to quit. They simply do not feel well-positioned to do their best work or live their best life.

Changing expectations from workers who feel stuck on-site: On-site workers whose job is remote capable have an increasing desire for remote flexibility. While the majority (65%) prefer hybrid work; the desire to exclusively Work From Home has doubled since October of 2021.

The endowment effect: Behavioral economics teaches us that people do not like to give up things they have acquired — we’re loss-averse by nature. Thus, many employees working hybrid or fully remote have come to expect permanent remote flexibility.

· six in 10 exclusively remote employees are "extremely likely to change companies" if not offered remote flexibility

· three in 10 hybrid employees are "extremely likely to change companies" if not offered remote flexibility

· the demand for long-term remote flexibility has substantially increased since June 2021

Excerpted from Returning to the Office: The Current, Preferred and Future State of Remote Work August 31, 2022, by Ben Wigert and Sangeeta Agrawal, Gallup. This article is based on a nationally representative sample of 8,090 remote-capable U.S. employees surveyed in June 2022

AUTHOR(S)

Ben Wigert is Director of Research and Strategy, Workplace Management, at Gallup.

Sangeeta Agrawal is a Research Manager for Gallup.

Full Article is available at: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/397751/returning-office-current-preferred-future-state-remote-work.aspx?utm_source=workplace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=gallup_at_work_newsletter_send_1_october_10042022&utm_term=newsletter&utm_content=discover_what_the_data_are_saying_about_the_future_of_hybrid_work_textlink_1