When The Crisis Goes, The Home Office Remains

2023 Author : Hannah Pearcy | [email protected] . Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:12

With the corona crisis, work from the home office receives a lot of attention. But what about after the crisis? According to a survey commissioned by Citrix, 71 percent of German office workers believe that this form of work will be of much greater importance and will be used much more frequently than before.

According to the survey results, home office was widespread in Germany before the corona prevention measures compared to the other countries examined. 43 percent of respondents in this country worked from home at least once a week before that time. This figure was only 45 percent higher in the United Kingdom. French and Italians, on the other hand, only worked 26% and 22% of them regularly from home before the crisis. The Germans see the greatest advantage of working from home in the fact that they can productively use the time they otherwise lose with commuting (49%). Another important factor is less stress, such as from traffic jams and overcrowded or delayed trains when the journey to work is omitted (42%).

In terms of the general conditions for working at home, the Germans are well positioned in international comparison: 57 percent of the respondents here have an area reserved for work or a study. The distinction between work and leisure also works relatively well: Almost half (49%) of Germans work at home about as much as in the office. Less than a third (%) works longer. 74 percent also say that their productivity at home is the same or even higher than that in the office. The most important reason for productivity losses, which complained of 26 percent, cite the distance to colleagues and the resulting difficult communication.

Productivity depends on the technical equipment

The most important factors for greater productivity were those who mentioned a separate workplace in the home and more opportunities to get in touch with colleagues (both 39%). An employer has no influence on the spatial situation at home, but he can provide his employees with modern technologies and thus promote communication and productivity through, for example, single sign-on solutions or digital workspaces. After all, 22 percent of those surveyed see such technologies as a prerequisite for greater productivity. However, the technical equipment of many companies is apparently not yet equipped for the increased number of remote employees: 59 percent of those surveyed stated that they use apps for work,that you normally only use privately - such as WhatsApp or well-known data exchange services. In Italy, 71 percent of the survey participants switched to consumer apps. However, such applications do not meet the security standards required for business-critical data, which is why companies should better provide suitable technologies themselves in secure environments.

"As an employer, we are all required to provide our employees with the necessary technological equipment, even at the desk or kitchen table at home," says Petra-Maria Grohs, Regional Vice President Germany at Citrix. “I am convinced that the home office will become an integral part of the German work culture in the future, instead of being an individual regulation, as was the case in many industries and companies recently. And the current difficult situation shows that this is the right way. Every office worker who can currently work from home not only does his job, but also supports the whole of society and helps us to get out of this crisis as quickly and as well as possible,”continued Grohs.

About the study

On behalf of Citrix, Onepoll surveyed 1,000 office workers in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Australia who work from home due to the current situation. The survey took place from March 23 to 26.

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This contribution comes from our partner portal IT-Business.de.