Home office: According to the survey, the majority prefer to go to the office

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Working from home has become part of everyday life for many citizens in recent months.

But the Germans obviously can't quite get used to it.

According to a survey by the digital association Bitkom, an overwhelming majority want to go back to work as soon as that is possible again.

85 percent of those questioned would like a permanent office job again.

The proportion is even higher among the older respondents.

The Germans seem to be strangers to working from home.

A further study by Locatee, a company that advises companies on workplace analysis, fits in with this.

As a result, the willingness to work at home was not particularly pronounced in the past year, at least in an international comparison.

Other countries had strict home office requirements

For example, offices in Germany were occupied by more than 30 percent in 2020.

In the UK or the USA, on the other hand, the attendance rate at the office never rose above ten percent.

The detailed results of the investigation are available to WELT.

Locatee examined anonymized data from a sample of jobs in 24 cities and 15 countries.

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Conclusion: “In the data we see large differences in office use, which are directly related to the respective political regulation in response to the pandemic.

Singapore and the United Kingdom enforce a strict home office requirement, while South Korea relies on extensive tests and therefore has strong fluctuations in workloads. "

In Germany and Switzerland, too, there was no hard obligation, and so many office workers would have tried to return to normal in the summer of 2020 with the rising temperatures.

"Many companies, but also employees, did not see the need to work from home in the summer and the subsequent lockdowns," says Michael Grotherr, responsible for Central and Eastern Europe at the recruiting firm Cornerstone OnDemand.

Other EU states acted much more rigidly than Germany, "as far as the measures were concerned - also because they had to be in view of the devastating situation".

Source: WORLD infographic

In addition, the Germans are not exactly known as home office and new work pioneers.

“We certainly have companies where flexible working hours and home office have been possible for years.

But the majority did not want to get involved in remote solutions before the Corona crisis, ”continues Grotherr.

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In the event of an emergency, this had the consequence that no proper workplace was set up in the home offices of the employees.

"So the work in spring 2020 was really an ordeal for many."

Some employers refused permission

But quotas of more than 90 percent in the home office - as in Great Britain - would have been inconceivable in Germany anyway.

In a study by Locatee and YouGov at the end of January, 27 percent of those surveyed stated that home office was not possible for them.

Nine percent said that although it was possible in principle, it was not permitted by the employer.

There is also a clear east-west divide.

In the west of the republic, 40 percent of those surveyed were allowed to use the home office without restrictions.

In East Germany it was only 31 percent.

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"But even if there was the possibility of working from home in East Germany, every third person decided to work from the office," says Locatee founder and board member Thomas Kessler.

In the west, only 25 percent of all who were allowed to stay in the home office went to the office anyway.

When it comes to future office use, opinions differ between East and West: When asked whether the classic office would soon be used again as in previous years, 37 percent in East Germany agreed, in the West only 28 percent.

"According to our survey, around 30 percent of all respondents assume that employers and offices will return to their normal status before the pandemic," said Kessler.

"That will of course have to do with the willingness, management and experience within the company."

Security matters

Kessler also observes great differences between different industries.

The issues of security and privacy, in particular, would cause serious differences in some cases.

Public administrations, financial advisors, law firms or insurance companies would find it much more difficult to implement a home office than, for example, start-ups.

Kessler considers it unlikely that the negative attitude towards home office will change:

“Companies are currently more forced than intended to react to the reality of the home office.

First and foremost, it is initiated to respond to the health and hygiene concerns of employees. ”But according to the survey, only 55 percent of the companies would seriously care about the safety of their employees and enforce appropriate rules.

"Many studies say that productivity in the home office does not do any worse than in the office," says Grotherr.

If this holds true in the long term, employers will also enjoy the model.

“Also because they can pass certain costs on to the employees.” For employees who commute, it can of course be attractive to save two trips.

In the home office it is also easier to manage the family.

Source: WORLD infographic

Grotherr: “So there are clear advantages for the work-life balance.

On the other hand, many employees miss the interaction with their colleagues. “The demand for office space will not change suddenly if some of the companies continue to work from home, says Kessler.

Even before the pandemic, the average office occupancy was only 60 to 70 percent.

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Kessler and his co-founder Benedikt Köppel worked for a major Swiss bank in a modern office building without a permanent workplace.

Then they would have recognized that "the analysis of existing data sources provides more valuable and more precise information about land use".

This realization led to the establishment of her company.

An office occupancy rate of only 60 percent does not make the remaining 40 percent superfluous, but it clearly shows that the office space is not being used ideally.

"The possibility of reducing the resources used is increased by working from home and depends on the extent to which this flexibility is permitted and used by the employees," says Kessler.

This will "not be reflected immediately in vacancies in buildings, since the rental contracts are still running".

But landlords should adapt.

They would need to review their portfolios to avoid running out of vacant office space later.

"Not every employee is enthusiastic"

“I am convinced that many companies will use individual hybrid models in the next few years.

After all, not every employee is enthusiastic about working from home per se, ”says HR expert Grotherr.

Many would miss colleagues and the daily exchange.

And the informal and social part of working together in a room is currently underestimated. "I therefore believe that companies will offer home office as an option, but the classic office is far from dead."

The Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) in Cologne asked 1,300 companies in Germany about their specific plans for mobile working and the reduction of office space in 2021. The result: a third would like to allow more mobile working, but only “6.4 percent of companies want office space dismantle ”, says IW real estate expert Michael Voigtländer.

“That doesn't sound like much, but I think the companies still have to sort out.

For many companies, the first thing to do is to adhere to the new distance rules.

In addition, requirements are first queried and planned.

I do think that even more companies will expand the proportion of mobile working in the next few years. ”And maybe the Germans will make friends with their home office after all.