More than half of employees want to work from home even after COVID-19 crisis: Survey

48% of employees say they are more productive working from home, 57% would prefer to work from home in the future and 68% have other workers or students also working in their household, according to Metova’s April 2020 technology survey revealing the sentiment of over 1000 consumers who are new to working from home due to COVID-19. 

Other survey findings include 31% think working from home is less secure than working in the office and 18% say their employer does not have clear security and password guidelines and procedures for working from home. In addition, 76% use video conferencing as part of their daily work while 53% have experienced glitches, or dropped audio during video conferences.

“We’re seeing a significant split among those who are new to working from home due to COVID-19 with a large group saying they are more productive and prefer to work from home, though almost half still prefer the office,” said Jonathan Sasse, president at Metova. “Because of this pandemic, we’ve seen the impact of an entire workforce attempting to work from home and as a result, employers may need to rethink their entire plan for working from home and their policies and practices going forward.” 

Some of the key findings from the survey include:

• 48% are more productive working from home (29% say they are less productive)
• 57% would prefer to work from home in the future
• 68% have others in their household also working from home. (including students)
• 31% think working from home is less secure than working in the office
• 18% say their employer does not have clear security guidelines for working from home
• 20% do not always follow their company security guidelines or do not have guidelines
• 37% have encountered possible security issues while working from home
• 76% use video conferencing as part of their daily work
• 53% have experienced glitches or dropped audio, with video conferencing
• 54% have upgraded their technology (computer, printer, laptop) to work from home