New research: Just 3% of Europeans back fully remote work, instead 82% call for improvements to the company office

Weybridge, UK, August 31^st, 2023: Research published by Sony Professional Displays and Solutions Europe paints a clear picture of new working habits and preferences from the perspective of both employees and businesses. The report reveals that more than half (53%) of European white-collar workers still prefer to work from a dedicated company office, but 44% say that their company’s office and tech setup does not suit their current working style.

In the years since the pandemic, trends around preferred working environments have fluctuated as both employees and businesses have struggled to find a new equilibrium. Sony’s research reveals that, despite flexible working now being the norm, businesses are still struggling to meet workers’ needs and provide the right technology to enable their productivity.

In tandem with Censuswide, Sony surveyed 2,600 white-collar workers, business leaders and CEOs across Europe (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden) to get a clearer view of their working habits, preferences, environments, and priorities. 

Co-working vs. owned office space

A few years ago office trends saw many companies changing the way they operate by opting to use co-working spaces and hot desking environments that answered to the needs of collaborative employees. While that suited the 5-day-a-week office goers of pre-Covid times, its appropriateness for todays’ workforce is uncertain.

More than half (58%) of CEOs and business leaders across Europe still plan to incorporate co-working spaces in future office spaces, despite data revealing that only 14% of employees prefer this setup. While investment into co-working spaces continues, over half (53%) of business leaders and CEOs are also looking to increase their owned office spaces in the future, and they agree that the right technology set up (55%) along with flexible hours (61%) will be key to employee wellbeing and satisfied workers. Employees echo this sentiment, with (82%) asking for improvements to dedicated company offices, and the tech within them, to better suit their new flexible, asynchronous working styles.

For employers, delivering the office of the future that employees demand is proving a challenge. 86% say there are barriers to making their office spaces work for employees’ current working habits. The top three cited are lack of appropriate real estate solutions (30%), lack of budget (27%), and a disparately located workforce (29%).

Some workers are entirely office based, but most prefer flexibility

A little over a quarter (26%) of Europe’s white-collar workers are still entirely office based. Whether in the office or not, this workforce is constantly collaborating with disparately located colleagues, with reports that an average of 84% of all meetings include at least one remote participant.

People are increasingly wanting complete flexibility over where they work at any time (43%), so this asynchronous way of working is here to stay. 92% of business leaders say they enable asynchronous working patterns and 94% of Europe’s office-workers claim that, when done right and enabled properly by their employer, asynchronous working benefits their productivity (33%), mental health (30%), work-life balance (40%), and stress levels (37%).

“Personalisation is the key for a productive and engaged workforce. If businesses want to create and sustain a productive workforce, they have to move away from a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. Sony’s research reinforces the long-established facts that businesses need to provide the right workplace, give people the right equipment and be flexible about the hours of work to ensure they get the most from their people. Technology set-up is an increasing issue for people as many have better technology at home than they have at work. In a technologically driven era, this should be a key focus for businesses to improve retention and then advertise their technology-first approach to future talent. This is no longer a differentiator for a business but a basic requirement to attract great people.” – Andy Davies, Product Director at MHR.

With nearly every (94%) European agreeing that their working location impacts productivity, overcoming these barriers and achieving the right set-up to enable both remote and in-office employees to collaborate successfully and productively should be a top priority for business leaders. Especially considering that satisfied and productive employees whose working habits are enabled by the right technologies will have increased output leading to better business opportunity and growth.

“From our latest study, it’s clear that people value going into their company offices and still want to do so when they can. With employee’s productivity, happiness, and loyalty on the line in an increasingly competitive market, it’s important that business leaders listen to this and continue to keep this at the forefront. We know the working world is continually evolving and the offices of the future need to utilise technology to adapt to these changes, but it’s not enough to just offer the option of an office, the space and its tech need to be designed specifically for todays’ working habits to support and encourage productive, collaborative, successful and happy employees.” – Adam Dover, Senior Trade Marketing Manager, Sony Professional Displays and Solutions.

To download the full Sony State of Offices Report 2023, click here.

Through every stage of workplace innovation, Sony is there to help organizations unlock their teams’ true potential through the use of technological solutions that are easy to implement and use, while remaining adaptable and scalable to the ever-evolving workplace landscape. To find out what solutions Sony provide for improving your company office space visit pro.sony/corporate.