Change in the office: Home office remains, compulsory presence continues to decrease!

Change in the office: Home office remains, compulsory presence continues to decrease!

The current home office study by the University of Konstanz provides a comprehensive insight into the developments of mobile working in Germany, five years after the Corona lockdown. The results show a significant decline in compulsory attendance in companies, which indicates a far-reaching change in work culture. According to the study, only 19% of employees report a stricter attendance requirement, a decrease of 22% compared to the previous year. In addition, only 8% of those surveyed are required to come to the office on all five days of the week.

The head of the study, Florian Kunze, states that increased office presence often does more harm than good. Employees who are required to be more present in the office feel more emotionally exhausted, while no measurable productivity gain can be seen. Kilian Hampel, co-author of the study, emphasizes that companies use office presence as a strategy to reduce staff in crisis situations.

Requests for flexible models

The survey shows a strong desire for more flexible working models. On average, employees want to work from home almost three days a week. 75% of those surveyed also stated that they prefer hybrid working models. The ability to work from home plays a central role, especially when looking for a job: 71% of those surveyed consider this to be an important criterion.

The attitude of managers has also changed. Only 24% fear communication problems due to mobile working, a halving compared to the previous year. In addition, the desire for more compulsory attendance among managers has decreased by 8 percentage points. This indicates a more professional design and increasing acceptance of hybrid working models. What is pleasing for many employees is that the majority of managers recognize the needs of their employees.

Concerns and Challenges

However, there are also challenges and concerns related to the new working models. Many companies report difficulties in collaboration and the erosion of social structures in the team. Compliance with working hours in the home office raises questions: Are they entered correctly? Some large companies such as SAP, Amazon and Volkswagen have considered partially reintroducing office requirements, which calls into question the dynamics of mobile working.

Finally, it should be noted that the home office study not only reflects developments, but also offers an outlook on the future of work in Germany. The demand for flexible working continues unabated and is increasingly seen as a hygiene factor to avoid dissatisfaction. The findings come from an online survey by the Bilendi/Respondi Institute, which represented 1,007 people and is part of the project “Digitization, automation and the future of work in post-industrial welfare states” at the Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality” at the University of Konstanz.