"The important thing is ensuring that the employer is still able to engage with their employees, regardless of the work setting."
- Debra Clark, Head of Wellbeing at Towergate Health & Protection
Of those surveyed (500), 91% of employers in the UK revealed that they have hybrid workers. On average, 39% of workforces are hybrid working with 27% having more than half of their workforce operating remotely. Only 9% of employers have zero hybrid workers.
30% of employees work from home at least three days a week. Of that, 31-40-year-olds were the most likely demographic to request hybrid working conditions. Notably, those aged under 25 or over 60 were the least likely to request hybrid working.
Despite these high percentages, employers remain keen for workers to return to the office, with 98% having implemented measures to persuade employees to stop hybrid working.
The most popular strategy is on-site socials (41%), followed by free food & drink in the office (40%), on-site wellbeing days (38%), access to in-person counselling (38%), access to a gym (38%), mandatory office days (37%), and subsided transport/commuting costs (34%).
Towergate Health & Protection emphasised that what is best for one person may not be the best for another, so decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis.
“With so many people still working from home for at least some of the week, health & wellbeing support needs to be adaptable to all scenarios. Employers should look to offer as wide a range of support as possible and make it easily accessible from the workplace, and remotely,” explained Debra Clark, Head of Wellbeing at Towergate Health & Protection.
She says more employers are utilising employee benefits to achieve this feat, but “support will need to remain flexible and adaptable to both scenarios.”
