Survey: How US employees feel about a full return to the workplace

Jul 30, 2021

A full return to workplaces, such as this one, is off-putting for some people who enjoy working from home for all or some of the week.

Many employers have big decisions to make about 'return to work' proceedures. Image: Unsplash/Austin Distel

Jose Maria Barrero

Assistant Professor of Finance, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México

Nicholas Bloom

Professor of Economics , Stanford University

Steven Davis

William H. Abbott Distinguished Service Professor of International Business and Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business; Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution

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this graph shows how employees would feel if they were asked to return to the workplace 5 or more days a week from August 2021

35.8% of people would look for work elsewhere in this situation. Image: VoxEu

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this graph shows a survey response to the following question: Suppose you got an offer for a new job with the same pay as your current job. Would you be more or less likely to take the new job if it let you work from home two to three days a week?

Over half of respondents would be more likely to consider the job which allowed some degree of home-working in this situation. Image: VoxEu

this graph shows that more women than men would be more likely to consider the new job in this situation:Suppose you got an offer for a new job with the same pay as your current job. Would you be more or less likely to take the new job if it let you work from home two to three days a week?

Women would be more likely to pick the new job in this situation than men. Image: VoxEu

this chart shows that people living with children under 18 are more likely to consider the job allowing them to work some days at home

Living with children under 18 is an influencing factor. Image: VoxEu

this chart shows that people who have a college degree of four years or more are more likely to consider the job allowing them to work some days at home

Higher education increases the likelihood of accepting the work from home job offer. Image: VoxEu

this chart indicates that workers and employers increasingly embrace working from home after the pandemic ends

The popularity of working from home has increased. Image: VoxEu

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