Employers still allowing work-from-home, but not as much as employees want

Employees who want to work from home can usually do so for part of the week, but often not as much as they’d like. Employers allow their staff some time working from home but prefer to see them at the office, EenVandaag concluded after surveying over 5,000 people who can work from home, including 300 entrepreneurs with staff.

During the coronavirus lockdowns, millions of Netherlands residents were forced to work from home and discovered that this gave them a better work-life balance. In 2021, 88 percent of people who could work from home said they’d like to keep doing so after the pandemic. That figure has hardly changed - 85 percent want to keep working from home. And employers largely allow that: 74 percent of respondents worked from home on one or more days in recent months.

But while employees and employers generally agree that the pandemic has shown that work-from-home works quite well, they differ on how often employees should be able to do that. Most employees, 61 percent, want to work from home at least half the week. Most work-from-home employees, 58 percent, feel they are more productive at home. Only 14 percent said they get less done when working from home.

Employers, on the other hand, would rather have their employees in the office most of the time. Only 28 percent favor staff working from home for half the week or more, and 69 percent want employees in the office most or all of the time. When asked why they want employees in the office, employers often cited the added value of colleagues being together. Some, 29 percent, also feel their employees are less productive at home.