Welcome to the latest edition of the WorkSpace Connect News Wrap, our periodic recap of the news related to the modern workplace, the people that make it happen, and the products and services that enable it. In this edition, we look at Slack's latest Future Forum Pulse report and what it says about the modern workforce, plus collect other items of interest from around the Internet.
Slack Declares the "Remote vs. Office" Debate Done—With Hybrid Work the Winner & Employees Expecting More Control
In the most recent edition of its quarterly research report, the Future Forum Pulse, survey respondents reported that only 30 percent of workers are going to the office every day, while a majority (58%) are utilizing hybrid work arrangements. Slack also found that workers increasingly expect employer flexibility in both location and working hours, with 78% of all survey respondents in favor of location flexibility (up from 76% last quarter) and 95% in favor of schedule flexibility (up from 93%).
The survey respondents are also trending toward job-hunting if they don't get the flexibility they want. 72% of workers who are dissatisfied with their current level of flexibility at work say they are likely to look for a new job in the next year, compared with 58% of total respondents.
Slack also reported that two years into the workplace shifts occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, employee experience scores continue to tick up steadily. Slack reported, "As of November 2021, knowledge workers globally were polling 12% higher than the previous quarter for overall satisfaction with their working environment, 15% higher for work-life balance, and 25% better about work stress and anxiety."
Full report results are
here.
Other Items of Interest
- The U.S. Labor Department reported that the percentage of people teleworking jumped to 15.4% in January increased to 15.4%, up from about 11% in December. The increase, which is the first in seven months, is credited to the omicron variant of COVID-19.
- Google launched a free version of its Workspace suite, Google Workspace Essentials Starter Edition, pitching it as "a no-cost solution for business users." Users who sign up will be able to host one-to-one video meetings (unlimited) and immersive team meetings (3-100 people; up to 60 minutes in duration each), have a dashboard to manage collaboration team members, and access 15 GB storage.
