Yahoo Finance Britons willing to sacrifice promotions and benefits to work from home
More Britons have been working from home for a long period of time as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and most want to keep it that way, even at the cost of career progression and company benefits, a new study has found.
A survey of 1,976 UK office workers by Ezra, a digital coaching provider, found that 35% of office workers would prefer to work from home more even if it meant less chance of progressing within their role.
About 28% stated they would give up company benefits such as cars and healthcare if they could work from home for part of their week, and 22% stated they would choose to work from home more even if it meant they had less chance of receiving a pay rise.
Some 9% would also opt for remote working at the expense of their holiday allowance and 7% would take a pay cut to stay working from home.
Ezra founder, Nick Goldberg, said: “It might seem surprising to some that the majority of office workers would opt for their new norm of working from home at the risk of reducing other career benefits. However, over the last year many have embraced this change and it’s given us some valuable time to reevaluate what’s important to us when it comes to the work-life balance."
READ MORE: Why we should be allowed to request remote working from day one
Watch: Why companies need to provide more flexible working options for women
He added that "it’s very likely many companies will embrace a higher degree of remote working. Therefore, it’s also very likely that the option to work from home more won’t come at the cost of career progression.”
Ezra’s study also found that working from home for two days a week would financially benefit UK office workers, with the reduced cost of commuting ranking as the largest saving (45%).
Buying lunch was also a big cost saved on for 21%, as was office attire (20%) and money spent on work social requirements (6%) top.
For 65%, a three-day working week would see them save £100 or less a month, with 22% saving up to £200 and 8% saving as much as £300 per month.
An earlier survey of 1,000 people found that 91% of the general working population would like to continue to work from home, whereas only 9% would want to work in the office full-time. Hybrid working is also set to be a popular choice too, with over a third of people wanting to work from home for half of the week.
Last week, oil giant BP (BP.L) announced it would introduce a hybrid working scheme once lockdown restrictions are eased, expecting full-time staff to work from home for two days a week.
Meanwhile, more than half of UK workers say they are putting in extra hours at home meaning they could be missing out on more than £4,700 ($6,376) a year.
According to a survey carried out by Furniture at Work, 52% of people admitted to doing more hours than expected of them, with 47% saying they start earlier each morning and 49% saying they are working late more often.
Watch: Is Working From Home Bad For The Environment?
