Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, when, or perhaps if, employees will return to work has constantly been evolving. In May 2021, Leger conducted a survey among Canadians and Americans to understand whether they want to return to work, what they would like their working arrangement to look like and more. The survey was conducted in collaboration with the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) and published in the Canadian Press as part of Leger’s North American Tracker.
In February 2022, Forbes’ article, “The Great Employee Recall: What Lies Ahead?” cites some of the results from this survey and explores various topics related to returning to work, including how to create an employee recall plan.
SOME OF THE KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR MAY 2021 SURVEY ABOUT THE RETURN TO WORK INCLUDE…
- 85% of Americans who worked/are still working from home during the pandemic say their experience was/has been positive.
- When it comes to returning to the workplace, among Americans who worked/are still working from home during the pandemic:
- 33% of Americans would prefer working a mix of a few days a week at their workplace and a few days a week at home.
- Only 19% of Americans want to stop working from home and go back to their workplace entirely.
- About half of Americans (47%) who want to return to their workplace would not be comfortable returning to work if some of their colleagues are not vaccinated.
- 39% of Americans who worked/are still working from home during the pandemic agree that if their superiors ordered them to return to the office, they would start to look for another job where they can work from home.
The following graphics depict the differences between Canadians (in red) and Americans (in blue). Click on each image to see a larger version.
