7 Home is best When work is done remotely, it is done almost entirely from the home (98 %). More than half of the respondents also work remotely from their holiday homes. Remote working from satellite offices or hubs, on the other hand, is rare, and very few organisations offer this as an option. The majority of the organisations that participated in the study are primarily active within the Stockholm area, and they do not feel they have a need for hubs as most of their staff live relatively close to their head office. The benefits of hubs are not considered great enough to justify the cost, and so employees can instead choose between working at the office or working remotely on their own terms. In those cases where employees do work from office hubs or satellite offices, this is on the initiative of the employees themselves. Extra services related to the remote workplace are not offered post-pandemic to any great extent either. Only 15% offer this, in the form of equipment for a home office. “... the majority still use their home as their primary workplace. This was not the case pre-pandemic.” So the question, then, is, wherein lies the appeal of the external workplace? Reasons given by employees for their reluctance to return to the office include a lack of suitable spaces for concentration or where they can participate on Teams meetings without the risk of being disturbed or overheard. Silent spaces are therefore used as one way of attracting employees back to the office, and many organisations report that they need more focus rooms alongside open-plan areas. Specialists, meanwhile, emphasise that absolute proximity to their personal work materials is important to them, and this is better facilitated at home than at the office. There is also a great deal of freedom in working remotely. Being able to choose an optimal environment, to recuperate and access fresh air and green spaces on breaks in the park, nature or in the garden, plus less time spent commuting and greater flexibility between work and life commitments, are all appreciated factors. “The older you are, the more complex the projects you are likely to be on, and so it makes sense to be at home undisturbed where you can really get stuck in. Without the disruptions of being in the office, like when a colleague swings by and says: ‘Hey, how was such and such?” The organisations hope that the office will become a place where employees have more energy and drive, where community is fostered, knowledge developed and information shared. However, it is clear from both the in-depth answers and free-text survey responses that the organisations feel it is not enough to offer a good ergonomic work environment, good coffee, fruit and leisure spaces or new furnishings and decor. In reality, many respondents feel that they lack the tools to compete with the level of well-being and personal control over both the work environment and daily life that working externally tends to afford. “As soon as the option arises, people leave the office ...”
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