While more than two-thirds of global companies say they’ve implemented a formal policy requiring employees to be in the office for a minimum number of days each week, fewer than five per cent of organizations say they completely prohibit remote work, according to a new survey by WTW.
It found most companies require employees to be onsite between one and four days per week, with 28 per cent of companies opting for three in-office days. Notably, more than half of organizations said they have no set rules to determine days onsite, with employees free to choose the days they work remotely.
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While definitions of remote, hybrid and onsite work vary, leaders report that, on average, 31 per cent of their employees are onsite 80 per cent of the time, while 19 per cent are remote 80 per cent of the time and 50 per cent are in a hybrid arrangement.
The survey also found the drive behind greater in-office presence is based on factors such as the belief that face-to-face interactions boost employee engagement within teams (76 per cent), strengthen corporate culture (71 per cent) and increase collective productivity by promoting personal interaction of teams (63 per cent).
However, it noted these factors contrast with the leading benefits of remote work, including promoting attraction and retention of specific roles that couldn’t be filled without remote work options (82 per cent), increased engagement by having better work-life balance (80 per cent) and greater employee retention (68 per cent).
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