Widespread reluctance in returning to the office!

A recent survey has revealed that 80% of financial organisations in Ireland are predicting widespread reluctance towards returning to the office workplace.

Despite the ongoing easing of restrictions, organisations believe that a mix of wariness over public health (37%) and an overall sense of contentment with working from home (43%) are behind worker’s dis-inclination to pick up where they left off in terms of office life.

These are some of the primary findings of the latest nationwide survey of 300 organisations from the Association of Compliance Officers in Ireland (ACOI).

Speaking of the findings, Michael Kavanagh, CEO of ACOI, said that 8 in 10 believe the transition back to the office may not be as seamless as one would think.

“While the reasons behind this are varied, it’s clear that there will have to be a departure in part from the more traditional workplace model.

“Working from home has proved a great success in many organisations and a firm favourite amongst many employees – providing them additional flexibility and perhaps a better work/life balance, which they may now be hesitant to give up. Just 20% of respondents felt that employees would be keen to return to the pre-Covid way of working, according to our survey.”

An EU survey from last year showed that Ireland leads the way in terms of working from home, having one of the highest rates in Europe by mid-2020 at over 40% by comparison with an EU average of 33.7%.