Acerta: ‘One out of three companies wants to reduce teleworking’

According to a recent survey by HR service provider Acerta Consult, more companies – one out of three business leaders – would like to reduce working from home. On the other hand, employees have a different opinion: four out of ten want to go to the office less often. The survey is based on data from more than 500 Belgian companies.

Today, there is a gentle push to get employees more involved. Three days or more in the office is again becoming the norm, especially in smaller companies. Employers are concerned about whether productivity will remain at the same level. On the other hand, they do not want to go too far because they risk losing people.

An earlier Acerta study revealed that more than six out of ten companies in Belgium (60.9%) wanted their employees present on the work floor for at least three days a week. One in ten managers even demanded full presence.

‘Hybrid working’

Both employers and employees admit that working from home has a positive effect on work-life balance, that it is an advantage in attracting talent, and that it helps to avoid absenteeism due to illness.

Four years ago, the world locked down due to corona, and working from home became the norm. Since then, many companies and their employees have found a good balance within ‘hybrid working’.

Three days at the office

Yet today, 53% of employers expect their employees to be at least three days a week in the workplace. SMEs, in particular, expect employees to work from home for more than half of the week. At the smallest companies (up to 9 employees), 44% expect employees to come to the office for at least three days.

Employees come to the office more often than is officially expected: 74% commute to the office at least three days a week. Almost half of the employees (49%) work at least three days in the office; the rest of the time, they work from home. According to them, this is the ideal formula.

Opposite trend

According to Acerta, 30.6% of companies want to reduce structural working from home; only 12.7% want to introduce more homeworking into the organization, and 56.7% think the current balance is good.

Acerta notes the opposite trend among employees who can work from home: 41% want to telework more often, 54% are satisfied with the current situation, and only 5% would like to telework less.

Re-evaluation

However, employers increasingly realize that unbridled teleworking – where there are no clear agreements about who will come to the office and when – has negative effects. The bond between employee and company is diluting, and when new colleagues arrive, it takes much longer to get them trained.

Sometimes, employees go to the office for a day but end up alone because their boss and colleagues work from home. Furthermore, there is often tension between workers who cannot telework and employees who can, and sometimes even between certain departments of employees.

“It is good that the company’s policy on working from home is being re-evaluated,” says Ellen Cab Grunderbeek, a legal expert at Acerta Consult. This is best done through dialogue and constructively. What is certain is that hybrid working will no longer disappear.”