What Swiss companies are planning in terms of home office

With most of the Corona measures no longer in place, normality is largely returning to Swiss companies. And yet, for many companies, the working world today is significantly different than it was before the outbreak of the pandemic. Recruiting new employees is often more difficult than before Corona, and HR managers report lower employee loyalty. When it comes to the question of how much home office remains in the long term, there is a gap between companies' plans and professionals' desires. This is shown by a recent survey conducted by New Work SE among HR managers and professionals in German-speaking Switzerland. For this purpose, around 100 HR managers and 1000 professionals were surveyed.

Every second company plans for the long term with home office

Overall, around half of the companies surveyed (48 percent) plan to enable home office working in the long term. 28 percent say that even after the end of the pandemic, employees will be able to spend up to a quarter of their working time outside the office, while 18 percent will be able to spend up to half of their working time at home. The very fewest go further: only 2 percent plan that more than half of their working time can take place remotely in the long term. Just under half of the HR managers surveyed (48 percent) say there will be no home office option in their company in the long term. This includes companies with offerings that require a physical presence.

One in six would like to work permanently in a home office

With their long-term commitment to home office, many companies are accommodating the wishes of their employees, but not going as far as the professionals would like. Of them, 16 percent would like to be able to work completely at home in the future, another 16 percent up to three quarters and 22 percent up to half of their working time. 6 percent would be satisfied if they could work up to a quarter of their time outside the office in the long term. 34 percent say that home office is not an option in their job. There is thus a gap between the willingness of Swiss companies to offer home office on a long-term basis and the wishes of professionals. Companies that restrict home office options too much or do not offer them at all run the risk of diminishing their attractiveness as an employer. If companies are aiming for a high presence rate, the office environment should be designed in such a way that working on site also provides clearly recognizable added value for employees.

Home office does not necessarily bring more flexible working hours

From the perspective of HR managers, working life has changed in the wake of the pandemic, especially in terms of communication within the company (65 percent), the way people work together (63 percent), and new work concepts such as home office and remote work (63 percent). However, new work concepts do not necessarily mean more flexible working hours: Only 34 percent say that Corona has led to a freer arrangement of working hours in their company. And less than half (42 percent) say that the pandemic has had a noticeable impact on the management style in their company.

More difficult recruiting and more changes since Corona

Recruiting employees has become more challenging since Corona, according to more than a third of the HR managers surveyed (37 percent). Only 2 percent say that recruiting new employees is easier for them today than before the pandemic. According to the respondents, the frequency of staff changes has also tended to increase. 20 percent report more staff changes since the start of the pandemic, while only 10 percent note a decline.

Corporate culture is the top topic in job interviews

Asked which topics currently come up particularly strongly in job interviews, 77 percent of HR managers mention corporate culture. Other key topics in job interviews are job security (75 percent), salary (73 percent), work-life balance (73 percent), as well as good leadership (68 percent) and personal fulfillment of meaning in the job (66 percent). The figures illustrate the need of Swiss job seekers to find out what makes a company tick and whether they see their own values reflected in it.

Source: New Work SE