Easing the return to the workplace

Inflexible policies are the biggest reason behind these dismal numbers, according to Subramanian.

“Full-time office workers are posting two times steeper declines when it comes to employee experience, relative to their peers and counterparts who actually have flexibility in where and when they work,” she said.

Many workers are not being offered flexibility, which is leading to mass dissatisfaction and resignations, found the survey of 10,818 knowledge workers in the US, Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the UK. between Jan. 27 and Feb. 21.

‘Overwhelming for many’

Having employees return to the workplace en masse will lead to levels of increased anxiety, according to Margo Hoyt, managing director of talent and leadership development at HR consulting firm LHH in Ottawa.

“We’ve hit a place where leaders, employees, organizations have become quite familiar with a different way of working than we were familiar [with] before, and there’s been so much positive related to that, but the anxiety and stress of having to give that up and go back and work full-time in an office is really quite overwhelming for many,” she said.