Work From Home drives employee happiness: Study

The majority of U.S. workers’ job satisfaction is back to pre-pandemic levels, find a study by the People management platform Hibob. With ongoing remote work, the allowance of flexible work schedules, the ability to be autonomously productive, and time saved without a commute are contributing and shaping the next normal where a hybrid working model leads the way. 

The study also showed that with strong job satisfaction while remote, the rollout of the vaccine will not prompt employees to run back to the office five days a week. 

Some even say an obligation to return to a physical workspace would push them to look for a new job. 

When surveyed about overall job satisfaction, 62% of individual contributors, 66% of middle managers, and 79% of senior managers answered they were presently highly satisfied with their jobs. Similarly pre-pandemic, 68% of individual contributors, 68% of middle managers, and 80% of senior managers reported being highly satisfied with their jobs. 

Only 10% of employees surveyed want to return to the office full time, showing that flexibility to work from anywhere is key. 73% of managers said two or three days in the office and the rest working from home would be the preferred hybrid work model, while 54% of individual contributors preferred either a flexible 2-3 days a week or an “at-will” hybrid model. 

Additionally, data reveals parents and working females preferred working from home at higher rates, as it allows for more time with family and flexibility with childcare. 

Women are enjoying working from home more than men; 65% of respondents who preferred a permanent five-day work from home model were female.  

Can vaccines be the workplace panacea?

Data proves that flexibility is key to employee success. Even with vaccines helping mitigate safety concerns, they are not a reason for pushing fully in-person work 5 days a week given the proven success of hybrid. 

Those in senior positions skewed more towards advocating for the vaccine and returning to the office. In fact, half of senior managers prefer to require all team members to get the vaccine before coming back to the office, whereas only 26% of individual contributors and middle managers feel this way. More than half of individual contributors (58%) stated that they expect their company not to take any stance on people getting vaccinated.  

In general, more men felt strongly that companies should require all employees to get vaccinated. 

Read the April 2021 issue of our magazine - 2021: The Year of Continuous Reinvention