“But 7 percent of employees want to go back to the office full time.”

Ninety percent of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with how the homework was organized. Most feel confident with superiors. They feel they can better juggle work and private life, say they are more productive at home, etc. Some find it unfortunate that there is less contact with colleagues and managers and some employees report that they learn less at home.

Overall, 73 percent believe that remote work will be encouraged in the future. The preference is clearly a flexible regime, as the days of work at home do not have to be the same every week. “Employees want to be able to fill their desks and work days at home by themselves,” says Acerta.

Remarkably, half of them would choose to work in the office for a maximum of two days a week. Six percent would even choose to work from home full time. The majority argue two or three days of desk work per week, and 7 percent don’t need to work from home at all.

“To get the most out of hybrid work — a business model that combines home and office work — the type of business needs to be able to determine where someone is doing the work,” says Hannelore Van Meldert, HR expert at Acerta Consult. “Synchronous work, which is work that you do with colleagues, like brainstorming, is best in the office. Asynchronous work, that is, work that people will do individually anyway, can be done ideally from home.”

The HR service provider advises employers to establish a thoughtful work-from-home policy. “This is certainly worth it, because a hybrid business can, if organized properly, ensure happy employees and a positive image of the nominated employees,” it seems.

Do we meet often? “At the end of the workday, you feel like you haven’t done anything.” †

Back to the office? Not everyone agrees: “If I had to go back to the office, I’d quit” †