Over two in five (42.9%) of HR decision makers in the real estate and construction sectors are considering increasing flexibility around working from home on a permanent basis for relevant employees and 37.5% are considering increasing flexibility around working hours. Our recent research with YouGov of 500 HR decision makers and 1000 employees across a range of sectors has shown that the COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst for increased flexible working in the long-term. 32.1% of HR decision makers across both the real estate and construction sectors even said they were contemplating reducing office space to encourage working from home. This signals a big shift in working life.
Employees also reported that they wanted to have more home-working and flexible working in the long-term with 65% of employees in the real estate and construction sectors who can work from home reporting that they would be happy if their workplace closed and they could work permanently from home. 58% reported wanting more flexibility around working hours.
We have seen considerable changes in attitudes towards flexible working due to the COVID-19 pandemic as employers start to plan for the “new normal”. For the full set of our findings – read our report.
Our report focuses on:
- The actual or perceived barriers to flexible working and how this has changed over the last six months.
- The long term operational changes employers are considering making as a result of COVID-19.
- The challenges employers face in relation to home-working and how to address these.
- What employees want their future work arrangements to look like.
- What employees consider employers should be doing better to enable them to work from home.
- Our recommendations for the future including updating and making flexible and agile working policies more aligned for the workplace of the future.