{"id":22020,"date":"2021-12-03T10:00:13","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T10:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=22020"},"modified":"2021-12-06T11:43:38","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T11:43:38","slug":"return-to-the-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/return-to-the-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Truths: A Forced Return to the Office Could Lose You Talent"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Highlights<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018The Great Wait\u2019 to find out about the return to the office is causing growing disenchantment among employees<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research finds that <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/great-wait-debate\/\">66% of Brits prefer working from home<\/a> to full-time in-office working<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">65% of people in the UK would rather do something like clean the loo than commute to the office regularly\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAre you back in the office?\u201d If there was an annual award for most-asked question, this would surely win the 2021 gold medal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For some of us, the answer is \u201cpart-time \u2013 for now\u201d, accompanied by a feeling of reluctance knowing that we\u2019ll soon be asked to return to the office full-time. For others, an at least partial reopening of the office would be a welcome change from home working.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>From sad to mad: why businesses are facing a flood of resignations\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whatever side of the remote\/on-site fence office workers are on, many still find themselves in limbo about their future working arrangements, and this \u2018<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Great Wait\u2019<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as US organisational consultant Kate Bullinger calls it \u2013 is fostering unhappiness with employers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This rising tide of discontentment is fuelling what\u2019s being dubbed \u2018\u2018The Great Resignation\u2019, as workers leave \u2013 or make plans to leave \u2013\u00a0in their droves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This push to quit is particularly rife among the younger generations: <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/great-wait-debate\/\">32% of people aged 21-24<\/a> say they\u2019re planning to leave their place of employment, with a further 27% planning to leave in the next six months, according to a recent <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/office\/how-it-works.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RingCentral<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> survey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Workplace attitudes: a few key statistics<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our research also highlighted a few other notable trends among younger workers. Here are a few examples:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-22091\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Human-connections.jpg\" alt=\"Human connections-323\" width=\"792\" height=\"625\" srcset=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Human-connections.jpg 792w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Human-connections-300x237.jpg 300w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Human-connections-640x505.jpg 640w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Human-connections-768x606.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 792px) 100vw, 792px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/netstorage.ringcentral.com\/uk\/infographics\/sofa-beats-office-chair-infographic-uk.pdf\">Graphic source<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although many of us have embraced home working \u2013 66% of us prefer it to full-time in person office working, according to <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/great-wait-debate\/\">RingCentral&#8217;s study<\/a> \u2013 <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/remote-work-resources\/\">remote working<\/a> has also taken a toll on our mental health, with some <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">workers feeling disconnected <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">from their workplace community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>COVID-19 makes us nervous about a return to the office<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Even with rising vaccination rates, COVID-19 fears have created anxiety about meeting in person. 52% of Brits say there are now colleagues they haven\u2019t met in person. Among this group, 47% feel anxious about meeting these new colleagues face-to-face, and 75% believe that people returning to in-person workplace models should have a COVID-19 vaccine.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-22101\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/remote-mindset.jpg\" alt=\"remote mindset-328\" width=\"729\" height=\"481\" srcset=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/remote-mindset.jpg 729w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/remote-mindset-300x198.jpg 300w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/remote-mindset-640x422.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 729px) 100vw, 729px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/netstorage.ringcentral.com\/uk\/infographics\/sofa-beats-office-chair-infographic-uk.pdf\">Graphic source<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><b>The growing call for a better work-life balance<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While remote working impacts how connected employees feel to each other, a lot of people now have a better work-life balance. Many are simply not prepared to return to the way of working that was commonplace before the pandemic. Five days a week of commuting on public transport twice a day? It\u2019s not everyone\u2019s cup of tea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The feelings on commuting are so strong that 65% would prefer to perform an undesirable task like cleaning the toilet (37%) or having our in-laws to stay for the weekend (25%).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Another survey from The Morning Consult found that 40% of workers say they\u2019ll resign if their employers force them to return to working full time in the office. (There\u2019s that whole flex-or-leave thing again.)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Flexibility is the golden ticket, both for employees and employers wishing to attract and retain them. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That&#8217;s why, at RingCentral, we offer both\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/company\/careers\/overview.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">remote and part-office based roles<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0as our technologies allow you to work from anywhere. Of course, there will always be roles that have to be in an office environment, but for us, the majority of opportunities are remote-based roles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Ignore the push for greater flexibility at your peril<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spend five minutes on a job search engine, and you\u2019ll see numerous positions offering \u2018flexi-remote\u2019 working and \u2018<a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/the-definitive-guide-to-hybrid-working-what-it-is-why-your-business-should-adopt-it\/\">hybrid options<\/a>\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job hunters want to work for businesses that can offer them the flexibility of in-office and\/or remote working. In fact, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2021\/08\/20\/most-employees-would-choose-flexible-working-instead-of-a-pay-rise-15124821\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">money is now less important to us than that flexibility:<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> nearly 75% of us would choose the long-term ability to work flexibly over going back to the office with a 10% pay rise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If employers refuse to offer hybrid or remote working, they will find it increasingly difficult to attract and retain the best talent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, there\u2019s no time like now to start getting that hybrid working model into place. Do that and you\u2019ll find yourself with a happier, more productive workforce and new talent knocking at your door.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t<div class=\"uc-expo-cta-2 style-4  CID-cta-2FdM5dTp\"\r\n\t\t\tdata-dl-custom-type=\"ctaButton\">\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"inner-container\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>Why is an employer's flexibility more important to people than ever before? Find out in our latest study.<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"button\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"rc-cta-shortcode btn btn-primary btn-lg\" data-dl-element=\"button\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg\" href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/great-wait-debate\/\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-dl-additional-info=\"Why is an employer's flexibility more important to people than ever before? Find out in our latest study.\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-dl-name=\"Why is an employer's flexibility more important to people than ever before? Find out in our latest study. | Read the research\" target=\"_blank\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\trel=\"noopener\" title=\"Read the research\">Read the research<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Highlights \u2018The Great Wait\u2019 to find out about the return to the office is causing growing disenchantment among employees Research finds that 66% of Brits prefer working from home to &hellip; <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/return-to-the-office\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Home Truths: A Forced Return to the Office Could Lose You Talent&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":223,"featured_media":22022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[56,66,39],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Forcing a Return to the Office Could Lose You Talent | RingCentral UK Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u2018The Great Wait\u2019 to find out about the return to the office is causing growing disenchantment among employees, finds RingCentral research.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/blog\/return-to-the-office\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mags Deogun\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Forcing a Return to the Office Could Lose You Talent | RingCentral UK 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