This year, many people have experienced working from home for the first time. While this option existed in some companies before the travel restrictions were introduced, working from home is a new experience for many office workers. But how do employees and employers Professional Essay Writing Service handle this situation? Together with the Censuswide survey Institute, we surveyed 1,000 home-based workers to find out their situation, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of working from home. We present the amazing results here.

Employers were mostly well prepared

In an international comparison, Germany scores poorly when it comes to digitization, and working from home is more of a rarity for us. It is therefore very surprising that almost 9 out of 10 (88.3%) employers were well prepared for working from home. Whole 92% of the employees were or are being supplied with laptops, mice, orders and the like that they need to work from home. Employers in Hamburg seem to deal best with the situation, 98% of workers here say their company was well or very well prepared and 96% have all the equipment they need for productive work. Problems mainly arose in companies with a large number of employees. In companies with more than 250 employees, almost every seventh (14.8%) says that their employer is not good prepared.

Productivity & management in the home office

Unfortunately, working from home also brings problems: looking after the children, unreliable internet and the better half can affect our productivity and communication skills. However, employees also have the opportunity to better organize their working hours and breaks and to escape annoying colleagues and complaining managers. So do these factors overall have a positive or negative effect on productivity and what about the relationship with your own superiors?

In fact, just under a third (32%) of employees say that they feel more productive in the home office. Especially the youngest generation of employees, the 16-24 year olds, are represented here with 35%, while only 20% of the over 55 year olds feel more productive at home. Communication with colleagues is also easier for younger generations, but even they agree that communication in the home office is generally worse. A Whole 38% of employees say that they currently communicate less efficiently with colleagues than in the office. Unfortunately, this also has an impact on leadership. Here, 26% say that it has worsened in the home office. Again, it is younger workers aged 16–34 who have fewer difficulties with it. Of these, almost one in two (47.2%) says that they feel more productive in the same office without a line manager.

Many teleworking problems are more pronounced, especially in larger companies. Every seventh workplace was not well prepared, which is also reflected in the productivity and motivation of the workforce. While employee productivity in smaller companies has increased, 34% of employees in companies with more than 250 employees say they are less productive feel. At workplaces with more than 100 employees, a full 32% even stated that the work ethic of the workforce in the home office has noticeably deteriorated.

In addition, every second employee at a company with fewer than 100 employees said they had no problems converting to home office. In companies with more than 100 employees, on the other hand, almost two thirds (64%) said they were facing major challenges. This is what these employees had to say about their problems:

• “It is almost impossible to combine work and childcare.”
• “Communication is not possible.”
• “Some processes were not designed for home office and hinder my work.”
• “Many have problems with their technology and stable connections.”

Influences on productivity

Be it noisy neighbors, your own children or the cat that always wants to sleep on the desk. Even if we can escape annoying colleagues, the home office offers its own distractions – you should think. Surprisingly, many German employees do not see these factors as annoying, but actually feel more productive! While 19% of employees see neighbors as a negative influence on productivity, a third (33.2%) thank you are for their helpful neighbors and feel more productive. The same applies to children up to 12 years old. A fifth have difficulties with childcare in the home office, but almost 30% feel more productive when they are closely connected to their family. Interestingly, it is predominantly men who see their children as an aid to productivity, while childcare apparently falls on mothers, who say that they are much less productive because of their children.

Pets and their better half also have a predominantly positive influence on our productivity. A total of 42% feel more productive thanks to their two- and four-legged companions. Only 13% say that fluffy companions on the keyboard are a problem. Even the constantly available fridge and snacks in the kitchen have a positive effect on our productivity. While 19% feel distracted by it, more than one in two (51.8%) is more productive when they are peckish can fight in between. The ability to freely schedule smaller breaks has an even bigger effect. A total of 65% of employees feel more productive if they regularly take a break can and 48% are more efficient with their time management at home. Employees are just as happy that they can finally escape the commuter traffic. Here too, 65% say that they feel more productive if they don’t have to commute to the office.

Home office also in the future?

If you weigh the pros and cons of working from home, the question arises whether you want to continue working after the restrictions. While many employees feel more productive in the home office, communication and leadership suffer in many cases. Nevertheless, more than half (50.1%) of German employees would like to continue working from their home office in the future. The option to combine teleworking with office work is even more popular and is well received by 60.8% of employees.

Interestingly, it is especially the younger generations who prefer to work in the office. A whopping 55.5% of 16-24 year-olds say that they prefer to work in the office – although they are more productive in the home office and do not like to work in the same building as their superiors. So could it be that younger generations are direct Missing contact with colleagues and colleagues ?

In contrast to their younger colleagues the generation 45+ prefers to work from home, although they feel less productive there. Almost 70% of employees over 34 would like to combine work in the home office with work in the office after a relaxation, while only 57% of 16-34 year olds are interested.

The experience of working from home is different for everyone – while many Germans are having greater experience with teleworking for the first time, many employees are also confronted with unfamiliar problems. The only question that arises is whether German companies will continue to allow working from the home office in the future and to what extent the previous problems can be ironed out by then.