As new research finds a majority of office staff would consider changing jobs if their employer didn’t provide a hybrid or remote working option, it’s clear companies must gear up for a changing workforce.

Enterprise communication company Slack say office workers increasingly want to see their employers implement a digital-first approach to work. Up to 70% believe that hybrid work has helped them with the cost of living crisis and with UK inflation rising and disposable income dropping, more workers than ever believe IT technology can help them save money.

53% of the 1,003 UK office workers surveyed by Slack said they want to see their employers implement a digital-first approach to work.

An overwhelming percentage of respondents also said they would support moves by businesses to improve time flexibility in addition to location flexibility, with 86% saying they would prefer to work more hours over fewer days.

A pilot project in the UK has seen 3,300 workers across 70 companies move to a four-day work week, whilst keeping their full salary.

84% of people surveyed said that technology has been vital in providing them with more location and time flexibility.

According to Slack’s research, replacing real-time meetings with asynchronous communication saves office workers an average of 2 hours and 53 minutes a week.

Slack say it’s clear that the world of work has changed, and employees are clearly signalling they don’t want things to return to pre-pandemic ways of working. Companies that can “create an environment where culture can thrive for all employees are best placed to retain talent and thrive in 2022 and beyond”.

All this means all companies need to seek out smart IT solutions.

To discuss this further, please get in touch with our team at UK Business IT.