More than two-thirds of global employees work remotely every week, and over 50% do so for at least half of the week, heralding a major reassessment of corporate real estate, according to a comprehensive new global study.
The emergence of this mobile workforce has been driven by technological change, globalisation and changes in employee expectations, according to IWG, the parent group of leading workspace companies including Regus and Spaces.
IWG has released a study based on the insights of over 18,000 business people across 96 companies. It found that every week 70% of employees are working at least one day a week somewhere other than the office. More than half (53%) work remotely for half of the week or more, whilst more than one in 10 (11%) people work outside of their company’s main office location five times a week.
Mark Dixon, founder and CEO of IWG, said: “People from Seattle to Singapore, London to Lagos no longer need to spend so much time in a particular office.
“We are entering the era of the mobile workforce and it is hugely exciting. Not just for individual employees, but for businesses too. This is a huge shift in the workspace landscape globally, and businesses are now looking closely at what this means for their corporate real estate portfolios.”
A study by IWG also found that businesses recognised that offering flexible working strategies to their employees provided them with significant benefits:
- Business growth (89% – up from 67% in 2016)
- Competitiveness (87% up from only 59% in 2014)
- Productivity (82% up from 75% in 2013)
- Attracting and retaining top talent (80% – up from 64% in 2016)
- Profit maximisation (83%)
For generations, the world has understood office-based work to involve a fixed location and a 9-5 schedule. But an unprecedented number of businesses are now adopting a very different working model, which produces benefits for them and their workers.
The IWG survey found that flexible working not only reduces commuting time, but enhances productivity, staff retention, job satisfaction and even creativity. This is in addition to the financial and strategic advantages that it brings for businesses…
