South African businesses predict that in three years’ time a third of their staff (33%) will still be working from home, which is not a great change from the current pandemic and lockdown-driven level of 38%, according to research by Willis Towers Watson, a global advisory, broking, and solutions company.
The research shows that, although some workers will head back to the office once it is safer to do so, remote working, which was used by just 4% of staff in South Africa three years ago, is seen as a long-term strategic change.
And if the freight industry has any say in the matter, they won’t be rushing back to the office once it’s safe to do so.
That’s the finding of a Freight News survey which found that 34% of our readers would choose to work from home full time post Covid, 21% would prefer to head back to the office full time, while the majority – 45% - are in favour of a hybrid home/office option.
The research by Willis Towers says businesses see that, in a world beyond Covid-19, flexible working arrangements can boost productivity, attract talent, and support diversity. “The challenge for businesses now is to rethink how work is designed and rewarded so they can improve performance and control costs and risks.”
Their survey found that 85% of employers would pay remote workers the same as in-office employees next year, regardless of their location. 41% say that they are not concerned where most work gets done.
Firms are also not planning to use flexible working to shift jobs to other countries. On average, businesses expect that 5% of jobs currently being done through flexible working arrangements will be offshored over the next three years. Much depends on the employer, as almost two thirds (62%) say they will not relocate any such jobs.
Despite the high levels of remote working anticipated in the future, many South African firms are poorly prepared. Only 15% said their current job architecture fully supported a flexible and agile workforce, while 20% said it did not support it at all. A quarter (24%) of employers still do not have a formal policy to manage flexible working arrangements, while 61% only created a policy this year.
A total of 66 employers in South Africa who have around 207 000 employees participated in the Flexible Work and Rewards Survey, which was conducted late last year.