Are you allowed to work remotely and are you able to do so?

Less travel, a more flexible schedule, and more space for household chores. Working from home has its advantages, but also some disadvantages. For example, almost one in two Belgians regrets the lack of contact with colleagues when working from home. 22% of them even feel isolated.

Many companies are facing a 'battle' between the proponents and opponents of remote working, with 35% of employees reporting that they have little or no knowledge of the applicable policy on working from home.

Telework policy

Good agreements make good friends or, in this case, good colleagues. Clear communication and a concrete policy on working from home are essential in the post-COVID era. And yet, 21% of Belgian employees say they have only made an informal agreement on working from home with their employer.

35% would not even know that such a policy exists. This is unfortunate because a good policy usually comes with additional benefits, including financial compensation for setting up a home office, for example.

Your place in the sun

54% of respondents have everything they need for their home office: from an additional screen to an ergonomic office chair. Such a personally designed space is important because it is becoming increasingly rare in the office. The clean desk policy or clean desk requires employees to put away their belongings every evening so that another colleague can move in the next day.

In some cases, the company has even created a desk reservation system. This is convenient for the employer, who now has an overview of who is working where and when, but employees do not necessarily find it to their advantage. Indeed, it is important for team cohesion to all work together in the office for at least one or two days a week. A task that can be difficult if there are more employees than desks…

Physical meetings

Offices and open spaces have been abandoned in favor of many breakout rooms, pods or phone booths, collaboration, and meeting spaces. As a result, the demand for collaboration spaces has increased significantly. 60% of respondents said they see the value in meetings. This is a stark contrast to July 2022 when 85% of respondents said they regularly have to attend unnecessary meetings.

Nowadays, 47% of respondents would like to go to the office more often if it meant interacting more with their colleagues. It appears that women and young employees particularly need physical encounters, even if they take place in the context of boring meetings.

Besides human connections, there's a second reason why many workers enjoy being in the office: 31% of them find it a quieter place to work than their home.

Duel

29% of respondents believe that sharing information with colleagues at home is more difficult and 20% associate teleworking with an increase in workload. Finally, and perhaps most strikingly, 37% of respondents believe that working alone and remotely can hurt professional and personal development.

And yet, many Belgians would like to work more from home. Four out of ten would be willing to accept an extra day of teleworking. French-speaking employees particularly like to spend time in the comfort of a home office: 43% of them would like to work more from home. That is 7% more than their Dutch-speaking counterparts.

In terms of age, 34-55-year-olds are the most in-demand while working from home is the least popular among those over 55s. A tough duel but, if everyone is making concessions - or putting some water in their wine - a well-crafted home working policy is invaluable.