Teleworking? ‘40% of Belgians can’t,’ says Acerta survey

A survey by HR specialist Acerta has revealed that four out of ten Belgians are incapable of performing their jobs from home. “There will always be jobs that can’t be done off-site,” says Hannelore Van Meldert, manager and telecommuting expert with Acerta.

The survey on telecommuting was committed in collaboration with Indiville and questioned 2 072 people. It’s a representative sample of the job market, based on the most recent figures of Statbel. It was run from 1 to 21 September this year.

“Our study reveals that this is especially true for the labor force; 60% of the workers can’t do their job at home. Even more compelling is that the numbers for personnel in administration or executive functions are equally high. In both cases, six out of ten cannot do teleworking.”

For whom, then, is working off-site at this point beneficial? “We see a strong case for middle and top management,” Van Meldert explains.

The sweet spot

The pandemic has boosted telecommuting (+53%), and the survey predicts how a work-home balance could be handled in 2021. People who stay two to three days a week at home seem to be very satisfied. That seems to be the sweet spot. Less is ineligible and more makes people get needy for their offices.

“Only a minority of the Belgians wants to work full-time at home, or full-time at the office,” according to Van Meldert, who also sees a gap between generations. Especially youngsters between 18-34 years old are prune to telecommuting, above 50 years, people prefer working in the office.

The company’s size also matters — the bigger the company, the bigger the chance for teleworking. And, of course, the kind of company or sector is also important. For example, government administration grants up to four days of telework, followed by the pharmaceutical industry (3,5 days).

Employees in the food or drink industry or the building industry can’t be that long at home every week. They work two days from home on average.

Toward a hybrid model

The time is now for employers to adapt their human resources strategy. The benefits of teleworking are there for the reaping. With an equal partition between home and office, a hybrid model seems to be the way forward. Van Meldert: “Companies will, therefore, have to re-evaluate their efforts in reimbursement of expenses and mobility fees.”