We surveyed nearly 600 employees in a wide variety of industries throughout the U.S. and Canada to get their thoughts on returning to the office and how a company vaccine mandate would affect their stress levels.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses across the world are faced with a number of difficult decisions regarding how and where their employees conduct their work. It’s true that with technology in 2021, many of the tasks workers perform can be done from home, or otherwise remotely, but it’s by no means the case for every kind of business, and in-person work is certainly not exclusive to folks wearing blue collars.
With that in mind, we decided to survey employees in a wide variety of industries—including digital marketing, web design, and many more—in both the United States and Canada about their stress levels related to going back to a shared office space. Here are the results from nearly 600 respondents.
QUESTION
Do You Currently Work In A Shared Office Space?
23% YES / 77% NO
What’s interesting about this general opening question is that it appears as if many businesses still embrace the remote working culture that has blossomed since the spring of 2020, but some are beginning to pull their employees back to the mothership.
QUESTION
(If Yes): Given The Current Status Of The COVID-19 Pandemic, Does Working In A Shared Office Space Cause You To Feel Stress?
51% No Stress / 34% Some Stress / 14% High Stress
Respondents here are “early adopters” of returning to the office. Regardless of being required to return or not, there’s a group that has always been ready to go back as soon as possible. Thus, it makes sense that the “No Stress” percentage is slightly higher than that of respondents who haven’t returned, as seen in the results below.
(If No): If Your Employer Required You To Return To A Shared Office Space, Would You Feel Stress?
47% No Stress / 38% Some Stress / 15% High Stress
Expectedly, the numbers show that there are slightly elevated levels of “Some” and “High” stress feelings for individuals who do not currently work in a shared space.
The final question asked respondents how they would feel their stress levels would be affected if their company enacted a policy that mandated vaccination before returning to in-person work in a shared space.
QUESTION
Would A Workplace Vaccine Mandate Make You Feel Less Stressed About Returning To The Office?
46% Yes / 54% No
The overall results show a significant divide in how people view in-person contact in the workplace as we approach the fourth quarter of 2021. Some employees are ready to leave Zoom meetings in the dust and be back in the office full time. Others are perfectly content to conduct their work from home and avoid the morning commute. Unfortunately, company decision-makers will have to navigate the complexities of this pandemic while remaining agile in their policies and balancing the health of both employees and the business itself.
Subscribe to the UpCity Blog