Irish workers reluctant to return to office

The majority of workers in Ireland are not looking forward to career advancements, promotions, or pay rises, but they remain hesitant to return to the office. Unispace, the global workplace creation experts, has published a new report describing a new way to create a work environment.

Returning for Good - a Unispace Global Workplace Insights survey by Unispace Global Workplace Insights that combined the results of an in-depth survey of 9,500 employees and 6,650 business leaders from 17 countries worldwide found that 80% of Irish businesses said that pay rises, bonuses and promotions would be limited for those who don't return to the office. The perceived impact is significantly lower according to employees, with 60% saying that career prospects for those not in the office would be limited.

A fifth of Irish workers remain reluctant to return to the office, with 32% saying they were not happy with the lack of privacy in the office, while 29% simply don't see the need to be in the office.

Irish workers are also facing a significant challenge, cited by 67% of employees, the second-highest globally and above the global average of 59%.

The study found that Ireland's workplaces are not set up to support productive work. More than half 55% of employees struggle to work effectively due to distractions in the office. The vast majority of 70% also indicated that Wi-Fi, which was considered the most important element of a workplace globally, was not available in the office, possibly also making workers less inclined to be there.

The results show that Irish workers are reluctant to return to the office, having also been the most reticent workforce in Europe in our 2021 study. It is clear that the workplace does not provide workers with everything they need for their job productively, even when it is clear that the workforce is not doing its job productively. The fact that employees are able to access internet at home shows that there's little motivation for people to get back into the office.

If employees are happy to miss out on advancement opportunities and pay rises to work outside the office more frequently, it does suggest that change is needed beyond mandatory returns, and Irish employers will need to put in considerable effort to design more attractive spaces in the future with the needs of their employees in mind.