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Most Workers Averse to Full-Time Office Return, More Employers Mulling Metaverse

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A woman working from home
Image: Westend61 GmbH - Alamy Stock Photo
Welcome to the latest WorkSpace Connect News Wrap, our periodic recap of the news related to the modern workplace, the professionals that make it happen, and the products and services that enable it. In this edition, we take a look at employee aversion to being in the office five days a week, the forecast for working in the metaverse, and employee experience platform WeSpire's new carbon management tool aimed at employees.
 
97% of White-Collar Workers Don't Want to Return to Office Full Time
A recent survey by management consultancy Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA) reported that only 3% of white-collar workers want to return to the office five days a week. By contrast, 86% of these employees want to work at home at least two days a week, and employees express a preference for commuting to an office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays. This tracks with an earlier report from Harvard Business Review noting that office space may not be shrinking because even workers with hybrid schedules want to come in on specific days of the week, leading to days when the office is full. The results, say AWA, point to a workforce that is willing to leave an employer who does not recognize or accommodate their workplace preferences.
 
According to Bloomberg, AWA surveyed nearly 10,000 people working in finance, technology, and energy sectors.
 
“Employers have to realize that the genie is out of the bottle,” Andrew Mawson, managing director of AWA, said in a statement. “Workers have seen that flexibility can work and bosses who are not sensitive to their employees’ needs will suffer accordingly.”
 
Gartner: 30% of Organizations Will Have Metaverse Products & Services by 2026
Gartner defines the metaverse as a collective virtual space with both physical and digital elements, accessible through multiple types of devices from AR/VR headsets to tablets — and the technology research and consulting firm says in addition to nearly a third of all organizations have metaverse products or services ready within the next five years, 25% of the population will spend an hour a day working or recreating in the metaverse.
 
In theory, the metaverse could include companies creating and renting industry-specific collaborative event or workspaces. It may also extend the capabilities of the hybrid office by supplementing the remote meeting participation experience.
 
“Enterprises will have the ability to expand and enhance their business models in unprecedented ways by moving from a digital business to a metaverse business,” said Gartner research VP Marty Resnick. “By 2026, 30% of the organizations in the world will have products and services ready for the metaverse.”
 
 
WeSpire Debuts Employee Carbon Management Tool
The employee experience platform debuted its Employee Carbon Management Solution, a suite of tools including an employee carbon impact calculator that allows participants to measure their carbon footprint and track its reduction over time, a carbon impact marketplace that permits companies and employees to offset unavoidable carbon impacts by financially supporting climate-positive projects, and reports that demonstrate the collective impacts of the employee or corporate efforts via auditable data.
 
“Business leaders are under pressure to meet the aggressive Net Zero goals they’ve set,” said WeSpire CEO Susan Hunt Stevens. “That requires a consistent, year-round commitment to sustainability embedded into company culture. This solution is a way to mobilize and activate employees, and demonstrate how they can contribute meaningfully to a company’s sustainability goals.”