Employers and employees remain divided over the benefits of remote and hybrid working arrangements, according to a new survey by Cisco Systems Inc.
The survey, which polled more than 800 employees and more than 200 employers, found more than two-thirds (68 per cent) of Canadian employers have implemented a return-to-office mandate and just 30 per cent believe their employees are most productive working from home.
The most important factors driving Canadian organizations’ policies for working in the office include a desire to increase workplace productivity (32 per cent), collaboration (17 per cent) and innovation (10 per cent).
Read: My Take: Ontario’s latest return-to-work mandate is misinformed, short-sighted
However, more than half of employees said flexible workplaces are essential to productivity, opting for either remote (30 per cent) or hybrid (26 per cent) arrangements. Notably, just 11 per cent of employers said they offer fully flexible work policies.
The cost of commuting (44 per cent) was the No. 1 factor cited by Canadian employees influencing their preference for remote or onsite work. When working in the office, employees said they prefer to focus on high-value activities, including collaboration (92 per cent) and brainstorming (86 per cent) with colleagues.
In-person interaction with leadership was the most important factor in driving both employers (60 per cent) and employees (57 per cent) to want to work from the office more frequently, followed by coffee catch-ups/informal breaks and team lunches.
Read: 76% of Canadian employers mandating partial, full return to office: survey