Yahoo's CEO, Marissa Mayer’s new policy banning workers from working remotely has caused a firestorm, particularly when it was discovered that she had built her own crèche next door to her office. Even Richard Branson, founder and chairman of Virgin Group, weighed in to say that he found the decision “perplexing”.
An Omnibus survey found that 34% agreed with Branson thinking that employees should have the freedom to choose where they work, and only 14% agreed that employees should only be able to work in the office.
26% of our responders said that their employers allowed them to work remotely some or all of the time.
Productivity levels were expected to be higher when working remotely with 28% of adults expecting to be more productive if working remotely compared to 16% who thought they would be less productive. 20% of men however thought they would be less productive at home compared to only 12% of women. Different age groups also varied on how productive they thought they might be at home. One in five (20%) of the under 34s thought they would be less productive at home compared to only 14% over 55. There was little difference between responses from parents with children under the age of 18 and those without.
When asked to imagine themselves in the position of CEO half (51%) thought that they could trust their employees to work remotely. Only 1 in 5 (20%) would not trust their employees to get their work done remotely.
In terms of contentment, 44% thought that they would be more content working remotely compared to only 10% who thought they would be less content. Slightly more parents with children under 18 thought they would be more contented working from home (50% compared with 43%).
Which ONE, if any, of the following, best describes how you think working remotely would affect your productivity levels?
For further information about poll results, and for details about methodology and Omnibus services, please email omnibus.us@yougov.com.
