The survey also showed that more than 80 percent of small businesses have already opened all branches. By comparison, in large companies with more than 10,000 employees, only one third of them have access to workplaces.

Differences in industries

The company also examines differences within individual industries. "More than 70% of biotechnology companies (such as pharmacy, microbiology, virology, genetics, biochemistry, etc.) have made their workplaces fully accessible. The reason is simple: in these industries, doing work from home is difficult, if not impossible, for specific conditions, ”the company commented.

However, companies operating in other sectors are not in a hurry to return people to their offices completely. For example, in banking, 57% of companies and only 46% of companies in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector did so.

"Returning to the offices has its limits. However, it turns out that companies are making considerable efforts to make their office space available again. Most of them plan to repopulate their offices in the second half of this year, "commented Richard Holberton from the company.

He added that the arrival of employees in the offices, however, was accompanied by measures such as wearing veils and respirators, visual aids for keeping distance, limiting visits or reconfiguring the layout of the office.

The office plays a key role

Most companies (60 percent) are in favor of some form of mixed work style, with the predominance of large companies. Conversely, smaller companies would like to have most of their full-time employees in the office. "The hybrid work model is preferred by 60 percent of companies operating in the banking and financial sectors, as well as in the TMT sector. For obvious reasons, only 50 percent of biotechnology companies are in favor of hybrid work, ”said Holberton.

According to the company, offices will continue to play a key role, and almost 80 percent of companies expect employees to work mostly in their offices, or in the same proportion from home and office. Only about 15 percent of companies plan a complete transition to telework.

At the same time, a third of the companies surveyed expect to expand their premises in the next three years. Telecommunications companies are among the biggest optimists. As many as 60 percent of them plan to expand their office space. In the banking and finance segment, almost 30 percent of companies plan to expand in terms of workspaces. What is gratifying, up to 40 percent of companies surveyed do not expect change.