77% Employees Will Choose Work From Home Over Salary Appraisal! Mental Breakdown Due To Work From Home?

Life appears to have returned to normal after the pandemic and the havoc raised by the virus appears to have ended. It seems like there is no returning to normalcy as far as IT professionals and their modus operandi is concerned.

A global survey conducted by software firm Ivanti revealed that the IT professionals are in no mood to return back to their offices and as a matter of fact, going to the length of declining offers of promotion as a trade off for work from anywhere. The firm which provides ‘Everywhere Workplace Solutions’ said that as many as 71 per cent of the respondents prefer to work from anywhere rather than get a promotion.

The survey also revealed the acknowledgement of the workers for the ill affect of WFH to their mental health. As many as 10 percent of the respondents reported that there was a negative effect on their mental health.

In order to dive deeper into the work behaviour, 6,100 office workers and IT professionals across the UK, US, France, Germany, Netherlands, Brussels, Spain, Sweden, and Australia were surveyed by Ivanti’s annual ‘Everywhere Workplace’.

Jeff Abbott, Chief Executive Officer of Ivanti said that “The pandemic has catalysed a monumental shift in where and how people work,”. He added that increasing automation for mundane tasks could improve employee experience.

The Gender Divide & The Great Churn

The survey also revealed that as opposed to men (44%), 56 per cent of female respondents have said that the WFH has affected their mental health negatively.

47% of men said that they lost personal touch with co-workers and 52% women reported losing personal connection.

In this digital-first culture, more men than women have reported that they have been passed over for a promotion. No matter that women have benefitted the most from the overall from the flexibility that remote work brings, but also they are expected to work longer hours.

Also during ‘The Great Resignation’ last year, nearly a quarter of respondents have left their job in the past year. This is not all, another quarter of them are considering leaving in the next six months.

In driving resignations, the return to the office policies are a key factor. As many as 25% of respondents said that they would quit their job if a full-time return to the office policy is enforced.

Work Preferences

30% of respondents said that they would like to prefer to work from home permanently, whereas 42% of employees preferred a hybrid model of work. The increase in the employees seeking permanent WFH have increased by 20%.

However, the number of people who want to work in a hybrid setting also reveals that there are many employees who look forward to interact with colleagues again. This decrease is attributed to lack of collaboration and communication with colleagues; and distractions, while working at home.