As many workplaces remain virtual ghost towns, new survey results shed some light on what’s discouraging staff from coming into the office. Spoiler alert: it’s not necessarily COVID-related.
In a recent study, many employees said they are working from home because of the greater work-life balance it offers. In fact, a quarter of workers who changed jobs recently did so for the ability to work from anywhere. This is according to findings from The Conference Board’s latest survey of more than 1,200 U.S. workers.
What’s Driving the Great Resignation?
Overall, better pay and career advancement remain the top reasons for changing jobs—that’s according to 37% and 31% of respondents, respectively. And only 8% found a new job because of concerns over vaccine mandates, according to the results.
Surprisingly, after spending decades in the office, Baby Boomers are leaving their jobs for the option to work from anywhere at nearly twice the rate of their younger colleagues. Of the Baby Boomers who quit to take another job during the pandemic, 17% cited the ability to work from anywhere, compared with only 9% for both Gen Xers and Millennials. For Millennials, greater faith in the trajectory of the new organization (10%) was as great a reason to change jobs as the ability to work anywhere (9%), the findings show.
“Story after story has covered the premium younger generations place on flexibility in the workplace. But as these survey results demonstrate, that desire is not unique to Millennials,” observes Rebecca Ray, Executive Vice President of Human Capital at The Conference Board. “Indeed, at more than twice the rate of their younger counterparts, Baby Boomers left their jobs for the ability to work from anywhere—whether they are working from the comfort of home or from an RV in Yellowstone.”
Men also apparently left their jobs for a flexible work location at more than twice the rate of women.
For those who voluntarily left their organization during the pandemic for another job, 21% of men cited flexible work location policy, while only 9% of women said the same. For women, career advancement was a greater driver, but for men, better pay, better job fit, and flexible work location policy were significantly greater, according to the findings.
COVID Concerns Debunked
Surprisingly, the survey findings also suggest that COVID concerns are not the reason offices are empty. When asked what drives their decision to “work from home/anywhere,” 72% of respondents cited work-life balance as the reason they work remotely. The Conference Board notes that productivity and safety were also factors, albeit much less so. That said, many working-age adults may be slow to reenter the workforce because of lingering concerns driven by the pandemic, which may reduce the incentive to rejoin the labor force, the organization notes.
The survey also found that a significantly greater proportion of women are working remotely compared with men. When asked what type of working schedule best reflects their own, 50% of women said they are working remotely, compared with only 37% of men. A greater proportion of men, however, are working a hybrid schedule (47% of men versus 39% of women) or are completely on-site (14% of men versus 10% of women).
“Businesses must ensure that remote workers—many of whom are women—receive the same developmental and promotional opportunities as those who are on-site,” says Amy Lui Abel, Vice President of Human Capital Research at The Conference Board. “Companies should be mindful of this potential pitfall, creating a level playing field for all workers as they develop their talent strategies in a world where less work is conducted in the office.”
The survey findings also reveal that workplace flexibility goes a long way in supporting workers’ mental health, as 70% of workers say that flexible hours and work location are the top policies businesses can enact to support their mental health.
Attraction and Retention
Meanwhile, in How Employers Combat Labor Shortages, a separate study by The Conference Board and Emsi Burning Glass, the organizations note that while many of these labor trends have long-term implications, the data suggests that employers are already taking steps in response. Among them are raising wages, offering bonuses and increasing benefits; revisiting education and skill requirements; providing more training; and offering greater work flexibility.
Still, these are not simple changes to make, the study notes, and business leaders must consider how these actions affect new hires, existing employees and ultimately customers and stakeholders.
Business leaders also need to be clear about how much remote work will be allowed and in what types of jobs. “As remote and hybrid workplace models change the recruitment landscape and the way work gets done, future hiring, retention, and innovation will depend on organization-wide clarity around these issues,” the study emphasizes.
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