Following the news that Spain will be trialling a four day work week, a new study has revealed that an overwhelmingly large percentage of British workers do not wish to go back to the office five days a week as was the norm pre-pandemic.
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A hybrid work schedule
Instead, many prefer a hybrid schedule in which working from home and working at the office can be alternated to create a balance they believe promotes a healthier lifestyle.
The survey in question was commissioned by the 4 Day Week Campaign and found that only 19% of participants wanted to go back to the office for a full five day work week, while 55% expressed wanting to see permanent changes to work life post pandemic.
The study surveyed 1,002 British workers and 81% of them said they would prefer only working four days a week with a mixture of working from home and at the office. Joe Ryle, a campaigner with the 4 Day Week Campaign, said that:
The world of work has changed forever because of the pandemic and there is absolutely no good reason why we should return back to the old and outdated ways of working. We're seeing more and more companies switch to a four-day working week and a hybrid-mix of remote and office working is popular too.
And added that:
With burnout, overwork and work-related mental health issues on the rise, it's essential that we build a world of work that is better than what we had going into the pandemic.
Adapting to new times
The Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey, also backs up the belief that things will go back to the way they were before the coronavirus. He explains that, modifications will have be made in order to adapt to our new way of working by saying that:
I think there will be for many people more of a hybrid model of working at home and working in a place of work. I think we've already seen the retailing industry change quite dramatically in the last year and although I would expect some of it to change back, it won't entirely change back.I would be very surprised if we went back to exactly as we were before COVID.
