For more home office: Professionals accept longer commutes to work
The world of work remains a local affair for Swiss professionals. Few are willing to change their place of residence for professional reasons, and many look for their next job on their doorstep. However, if a company offers the opportunity to do some of the work in a home office, a longer commute is often accepted in return.
On behalf of the professional network XING, the market and opinion research company Marketagent.com surveyed 500 employed people in German-speaking Switzerland on the topic of flexible working and place of work. The respondents were between 18 and 65 years old. The sample is representative of the working population in German-speaking Switzerland.
New Normal Deal: more home office, but a longer commute
More home office could prove to be an opportunity for companies outside the conurbations, the study results show. If it were possible to work at home on a regular basis, more than half of those surveyed (52 percent) would accept a longer commute on the remaining workdays in return. A third (35 percent) are still undecided, and only 13 percent would reject such a compromise in principle. Robert Bertschinger, Managing Director of XING Switzerland, comments on this finding as follows: "With the option of doing some of their work from the home office, employees are opening up new career prospects. Jobs further afield are now becoming an option without having to change residence. At the same time, thanks to greater flexibility, companies are expanding their catchment area for recruiting new employees and thus gaining access to a larger pool of candidates."
Only a few would change their place of residence for the job
It is certainly interesting for companies to increase the catchment area for new employees by offering home offices. Only around one-fifth (21 percent) of respondents are willing to change their place of residence for a new job. Among men, the willingness to move is higher at 26 percent than among women at 16 percent. More than half of the professionals (54 percent) cannot imagine moving to a new location for a job, and 25 percent are undecided whether they would be willing to take this step.
Accordingly, despite global networking and internationalization, working life remains a local affair for the vast majority. For one third (31 percent) of those surveyed, the next job should be no more than 10 kilometers from their current place of residence. Another 41 percent would accept a commuting distance of no more than 20 kilometers. A job further away is an option for very few.
Change of residence: working people fear social isolation
A change of residence is often associated with fears. Almost a third (29 percent) fear that they will become socially isolated if they move. To counter this danger, 27 percent say they would actively build up a network in the new location before moving. And four in ten respondents (39 percent) would use social networks to connect with professional contacts in the new region.
For just under half (45 percent) of respondents, a professional social network is also important outside their own company, and 27 percent say that this network supported them a great deal during the Corona period. 28 percent have also become more active in terms of their digital networking since the start of the pandemic. Robert Bertschinger: "Professional networks are an important part of working life and often extend beyond one's own employer. In the event of a change of residence, but also in the case of a professional reorientation, these networks can be expanded in a targeted manner in order to quickly regain a foothold in the new location."
Source: www.xing.com
