BUSINESS NEWS - UK - Office workers willing to take a pay cut to work from home permanently
Posted 7th September 2021 • Written by staffingindustry.com • • • • •
Over a quarter, or 27%, of UK workers would accept a pay cut to switch to permanent home working, according to a survey from Hitachi Capital.
The survey by Hitachi Capital UK shows office workers are prepared to take an 8% pay cut on average for permanent, full-time home working, with 2% even prepared to take up to a 20% pay cut.
Lower salary brackets were found to be driving the trend, with a third of office workers earning less than £40,000 most likely to take a pay cut to permanently work from home compared to 20% of earners over £40,000.
Generation Z leads the charge for remote working, with 39% wanting a permanent full time working from home solution versus 16% of millennials, despite 31% missing the socialisation in the office.
Millennials are most likely to consider taking a pay cut (35%), followed by over 55s (25%) and 45–54-year-olds (24%) if it meant the reduction was less than their usual travel spend and there was increased flexibility from their employer.
Meanwhile, the ability to balance household and family responsibilities alongside work is driving half of female decisions to work from home (49%) compared to 37% of men.
Spending time with family is a key incentive for over a third of males (34%) to work remotely compared to 26% of females.
Regions most ready to return to the office are Yorkshire and the North East (21%), as the office environment and access to a conventional desk allows increased focus and productivity. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland (37%), West Midlands (35%) and South West (31%) are the strongest supporters of the post-pandemic shift to hybrid working.
Theresa Lindsay, Group Marketing Director at Hitachi Capital UK PLC said, “The pandemic has led to a seismic shift in the way people want to work in order to effectively manage their work and home life commitments. It’s clear that the majority of employees have adapted very well to remote working whilst actually enhancing productivity.
“Moving forward, our research clearly shows that the clamour for flexible working is so pronounced that many employees are even prepared to sacrifice their salary to achieve a better work-life balance in the long term,” Lindsay said.
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