ANGUS REID INSTITUTE
Back to work(place): As employers beckon, telecommuters grow more entrenched at home

With work-from-home orders a thing of the past, Canadian employers are getting more serious about calling their employees back to the office.

Banks have "led the pack". CIBC brought employees back starting this week as part of a hybrid model, while last week HSBC opened two new offices in Vancouver and Toronto with 50 per cent capacity.

A new study from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute, in partnership with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, finds workers from home reluctant to return. More than half (56%) of those currently working from home say they would look for a new job if they were asked to return to the office, including almost one-quarter (23%) who say they would quit on the spot.

This is a marked shift of the attitudes of Canadians working from home from last summer. Then, two-in-five (39%) said they would roll with it and return full time without complaints. Now three-in-ten (29%) say the same.

Overall, Canadians are more likely to say the work from home experience has not hurt their productivity - four-in-five say it is good' or great' - though they are more split when it comes to its effect on their connections with colleagues. Half say the digital connection with their workmates is good' or great'; half say it is challenging' or awful'. As for the work itself, three-in-five (59%) say they've had no trouble staying in the loop on projects, while two-in-five (41%) say that was a struggle.

However, perhaps it is the non-work considerations that are the more significant reasons workers from home are less than enthused to return to the office full time. Canadians who work from home are more likely than those who don't to say their work/life balance (35% vs. 21%), relationship with their spouse (32% vs 21%) and their life overall (30% vs 18%) have improved over the course of the pandemic.

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