Survey: German managers fear loitering in the home office

Executives from companies in Germany are skeptical of their employees working from home in an international comparison.

This is the result of a representative Yougov survey commissioned by Linkedin among 2000 executives from eleven countries. According to this, a good third of managers (37 percent) in Germany fear negative consequences for their company if they allow employees to work flexibly. In an international comparison, only respondents in Ireland were even more concerned on this point (40 percent). In Italy it is only 20 percent, the overall average is 30 percent.

Managers see their own role positively

Above all, the skeptics among German managers fear that employees will not go about their work in the home office. 38 percent of respondents expressed these concerns. Only in the Netherlands was the value just as high. Managers in Italy and Brazil (17 percent each), Great Britain (21 percent) and France (22 percent) have significantly fewer concerns on this point.

When it comes to their own role, managers have fewer reservations. Most of the respondents (71 percent) consider themselves able to manage a spatially distributed workforce.

At the same time, they admit possible challenges: For example, they fear that cooperation within the teams will become more difficult. In addition, they can imagine that employees who work in the home office feel disadvantaged in terms of promotions or in their career development. More than two thirds (70 percent) want to see their employees in the office between three and five days a week in the future. Only in the Netherlands is this value even higher at 82 percent.

Despite all the concerns, more than four fifths of the managers surveyed in Germany (84 percent) see the benefits of working from home. For example, you can also hire applicants who need flexibility due to family obligations or who do not live in the immediate vicinity.