The introduction of working from home for a lot people over the past year has changed many aspects of their working lives.
We’ve seen a lot of our community talk about how they are now working longer days because they are working from home or that they even find it easier to work over the weekends because they can get more things done.
In a poll that we conducted on LinkedIn, we asked if people worked over the weekend whilst working from home and surprisingly 50% of those said they either always or sometimes do to check emails or get more work done.
Whilst many parents were juggling home schooling and working during the week, it is no surprise that this changed many people’s daily routines.
We also asked in a poll if people had the choice, would they; work earlier, stick to 9-to-5 or start later, and 50% of respondents said they would prefer to start early and finish early, leaving just 11% of those who would prefer to work a 9-to-5 day.
Also, 29% of poll respondents selected that they would prefer to mix it up every week, showing the demand for flexible working hours.
Additionally, there is further research that suggests that the demand for flexible working hours will stick. Recently in a poll, we asked which perk would stand out the most to people when looking for a new role if they’re working from home and 84% of those said flexible working hours.
This poses the further question that when offices begin to open up, will they stick to usual business hours or will we see more freedom in people’s working hours, similar to what some people have whilst working from home?
So now the UK is slowly opening up again, will we see a shift back to 9-to-5 or will flexible business hours be the way forward?
Our poll results would indicate that the hustle and bustle of commutes may be even earlier in the day if people could choose when they want to go in and work.
In a hot desk environment, this has potential as people would be booking an area and going in to have a change of working environment so their starting and finishing hours may allow flexibility.
However, in some offices where whole teams will be coming in to work, including having set morning meetings for example, we may find that the normal 9-to-5 day will continue.
A grey area…
Whilst many people were working from home over the last year, we found that people were comfortable to be contacted, or at least have emails coming through, out of the deemed traditional ‘business hours’.
But will this be normal etiquette with the return of the offices? Or with the introduction of a hybrid working model?
It may be likely that usual business hours may stick. People will still deem 9-to-5 as a normal working day and this could be expected from staff as they transfer back in the office to build structure.
But however, as some are still working from home; whether that be full time or a hybrid working model, there will still be some flexibility in work hours. Therefore, people dropping emails in the evening and over the weekend will be seen as slightly more normal than pre-pandemic.
What do you think? Do you think we will see a return of the 9-to-5 working day? Let us know at [email protected].
