The majority of Dutch people have been working from home for about two months now. The question is: do they ever want to go back to the office?
Half of Dutch people want to continue working from home in some capacity, research by Nationale Vacaturebank and Intermediair reveals. 53% have positive feelings about the experience overall, and 49% want to continue it, at least some of the time.
Working from home was more difficult for people with children
People’s experiences of working from home depended on a couple of things: whether they had children or not, what sort of work they did, and their relationship with their coworkers. For 42% of people without children, this time working at home allowed them to be able to concentrate better. Only 21% of those with children could say the same.
Missing colleagues is a major reason people want to go back to the office
59% of people name missing their colleagues as the primary reason they want to go back to the office. For higher educated people, this number is even higher, at 65%. Video calling really isn’t filling the social void, says Maarten Naaijkens from the Nationale Vacaturebank in an interview with AD, and people are only now realising how important their colleagues are to them.
Basically no one misses commuting
The best part of working from home is not having a commute any more, say 68%, while 61% are really enjoying being able to organise their own time. Only 29% are enjoying the extra family time.
The crisis will change how we work well into the future
There will likely be changes to work-life in the Netherlands in any case after this crisis. What it has shown is that working from home is feasible for a lot of people. Prior to the lockdown, working at home was often discussed in workplaces, but employers usually only saw the negative side.
It’s likely that this has now changed, Naaijkens says. “We are entering a different time with how we view work. Both employers and employees have experienced the benefits of working from home. The question will become for many functions: do you really need to be in the office every day for what you are doing?”
What are your thoughts on working from home? What have been the best and the worst parts of it? Let us know in the comments below.
Feature Image: Annie Spratt/Unsplash