70% Of Employees Have Enjoyed The Return To The Office

Published on September 9, 2021 - By Cecilia Amador de San José

• For many workers, the return to the office is now a reality.  
• 70% of employees are enjoying the return to the workplace.  
• Vaccine mandates remain a thorny issue within organizations.  

For many workers, the return to the workplace is now a reality. To understand how employees are who have gone back to the office are feeling, Eden Workplace, in conjunction with Wakefield Research, created a post-COVID return to the office survey.  

The results are encouraging for organizations. The survey found that most employees are happier than they anticipated they would be about returning to the office.  

Key Findings 

• Two-thirds of employees expected to like being back at the office; 70% are enjoying it.  
• 57% of employees want their organizations to require vaccines.  
• Only a third of employees give their employers an ‘A’ for the way they’ve managed the return to the workplace.  
• Interestingly, men (78%) are happier than women (64%) to be back in the workplace.  
• 62% of workers rate socialization as the element they enjoy most about being back in the office.  
• 51% of employees are enjoying having “a proper office setup”.  
• 85% of employees want access to an office as part of hybrid work arrangements.  

Vaccine Mandates Remain a Topic of Debate  

Various surveys have found that a slight majority of workers favor vaccine mandates. However, vaccine mandates remain a source of debate for many organizations, which is why only around 44% of organizations have implemented vaccine mandates.  

The debate goes beyond implementing a vaccine mandate or not. There’s also the issue of whether companies should require proof of vaccination or rely mostly on the honor system. Some organizations that previously had the honor system in place have since changed their policies and are requiring proof of vaccine, claiming that the honor system failed to keep everyone safe.  

Eden Workplace’s survey also found that generational differences exist when it comes to mandating the vaccine. 

The survey found that 64% of Millennial workers favor their employers’ requiring vaccines. That number drops to 45% among Boomers. Company executives (72%) are also keener on vaccine mandates that non-executives (50%), the survey found.  

Flexibility Remains a Top Priority for Workers 

While employees are enjoying the return to the workplace, they aren’t as keen on going back full time. Workers continue to demand increased flexibility from their employers, with the majority of workers preferring hybrid work arrangements that give them access to the office some of the time.