Only around a third of companies believe that employees' productivity will increase if they work exclusively in the office again. The results of a survey by the ifo Institute show that working from home has become established in many companies.
In August 2023, the Ifo Institute surveyed around 9,000 companies in Germany. The results have now been presented. The economic researchers wanted to find out how companies rate working from home. The most important finding: a clear majority of companies in Germany do not see any loss of productivity as a result of working from home or hybrid working.
The majority's positive experiences with productivity are an important reason why working from home has become established in many German companies.
60 per cent stated that they expect productivity to remain the same if employees were to return to the office completely. Nevertheless, 32 per cent of companies would still expect their workforce to be more efficient if they stopped working from home. The reason given by these companies is that coordination is more efficient in the office, there is more communication and more knowledge sharing. "Easier Management of teams" is also mentioned. This is certainly not referring to Microsoft software, but to the management of employees.
The institute also asked companies how high they would estimate productivity growth to be. Companies that are sceptical about working from home expect at least a ten per cent increase in productivity, with some even estimating a 30 per cent increase.
Survey respondents who are in favour of the hybrid working model with working from home see higher productivity because employees can organise their working hours more flexibly. They are less distracted, more satisfied with their job and have a better work-life balance.
According to Ifo, only around eight per cent of German companies are currently planning more restrictive home office rules.
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P.S.: Working from home has also been completely normal at Digitec Galaxus since 2020. Read this article to find out what this means for our day-to-day work:
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Journalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.
