Survey looks at RO employees workspace, work model preferences

Twenty percent of the Romanian employees answering a survey of developer Skanska work only from home, and 18% of Romanian employees work in a hybrid model, with 3 or 4 days per week in the office.

The survey, conducted among 2,000 office workers living in large cities in Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, showed that 48% of the respondents in the four CEE countries work from the office every day.

Furthermore, 27% of the respondents in Romania would like to work in the office at least 3-4 days per week, 22% of them would like to work exclusively from the office, and 19 % would prefer to work only from home. At the CEE level, for 51% of the employees surveyed, the ideal working model involves at least 3-4 days a week working from the office.

The beneficial aspects of homework listed by CEE employees include the ease of organizing family life (51%), good working conditions at home (48%), and saving time on commuting to the office (45%).

Romanian employees noted the good working conditions at home (53%), followed by the time saved once they no longer have to commute to the office (51%) and how remote work allows them to organize their family life easier (49%).

The survey notes several differentiators in terms of what would motivate employees in the four countries to return to the office. For Romanian employees, the most important thing is for the workplace to reach high-quality standards, including sanitary ones and the option to relax and work outdoors.

According to the survey, the top three characteristics of an ideal office for Romanians are very good quality IT equipment (39%); green, open spaces for work and relaxation (33%); and cafes, canteens, or restaurants that offer tasty and healthy food. Other important aspects include a quiet space that allows concentration (32%), professional lighting that does not tire the eyes (27%), separate or individual workspaces (18%), and areas dedicated to creative work or to socialize with the team (18%).

Among the barriers that Romanians have when it comes to returning to the office are the impossibility of serving a warm and healthy meal at work (14%); 17% do not want to spend their time in a confined space with air conditioning; and 26% fear getting the virus once they return to the office.

The study also showed that high sanitary standards could encourage working in the offices. The daily disinfection of the office (41%), lower population density (37%), and non-contact solutions (37%) are the main factors that would positively affect employees’ sense of safety in the office.

The study was conducted by the research company Zymetria on behalf of Skanska. As part of the quantitative online survey using the CAWI method, responses were collected from 2,000 office workers living in large cities in four countries: Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.