ZEW survey: What companies appreciate the home office – and what not

At the latest since Corona pandemic, home office offers and a mix of presence in the office and mobile work have been part of everyday life in many companies. From the company’s point of view, there are clear advantages, but also disadvantages, as can be seen from a survey by the Mannheim Economic Research Institute ZEW, which is available to the German Press Agency.

For the survey representative, according to the ZEW, around 1,200 companies from the processing industry and the information industry were asked in June this year.

Above all, the job satisfaction of the employees is seen positively. More than two thirds of the companies surveyed see an advantage through hybrid working models. More than half of the companies also see advantages for the acquisition of specialists – and only every tenth company sees disadvantages.

With regard to the employee loyalty, opinions differ: Although almost half (47 percent) sees advantages, around every third company also expects disadvantages.

The most critical companies rate the effects of internal communication and teamwork. Two thirds of the companies see disadvantages and only seven percent advantages. 27 percent of companies evaluate this point neutrally. Companies tend to appreciate the consequences for the productivity of the employees and the ability to innovate.

Overall, however, the advantages seem to predominate. According to the survey, only around ten percent of companies plan to reduce or end their home office offers over the next two years. Rather, companies expect existing home office offers with an increase in employees in the home office. 29 percent of the companies in the information industry assume an increase. It is 34 percent in the processing industry.

Home office widespread

According to the survey in June, at least part of the employees worked in the home office at least once a week in the information industry in June. This was the case in the processing of the trade in about every second company.

“The rate of use is significantly higher for larger companies with at least 100 employees,” said ZEW study director Daniel Erdsiek. According to him, 88 percent of such companies used home office offers in the processing industry and, with 98 percent, it was almost all companies of this size in the information industry.