Every fifth company would like to offer home office in the long term

According to a survey by the Nuremberg Institute for Employment Research (IAB), every fifth company in Germany wants to expand the possibilities for mobile working in the long term.

Nuremberg - According to a survey by the Nuremberg Institute for Employment Research (IAB), every fifth company in Germany wants to expand the possibilities for mobile working in the long term. But two thirds of the companies want to bring it back to the level before the pandemic, every tenth company even below the pre-crisis level. The IAB announced on Monday. The institute surveyed companies across Germany between July 5th and 20th.

"The proportion of companies that want to expand the home office option is much higher in large companies with over 250 employees than in small and medium-sized companies," said IAB researcher Christian Kagerl.

In companies with more than 250 employees, their share was around 65 percent, and in companies with 50 to 249 employees a good 30 percent.

In companies with fewer than 50 employees, the figure was just under 20 percent.

More home office: Companies hope for more freedom for employees

The IAB asked companies about the reasons for their stance in October 2020, and not much has changed since then.

Companies that speak out in favor of home office want to increase the flexibility of their employees and improve the compatibility of family and work in order to position themselves as an attractive employer.

Anyone who wants to reduce the work from home usually does not consider the profile of the respective workplace to be suitable.

Others fear that the distance makes collaboration more difficult, that employees are treated unequally or that the corporate culture prevents expansion.

The IAB survey is part of the study “Companies in the Covid 19 crisis”, for which the institute asks 1,500 to 2,000 companies every month on how to deal with the Corona * crisis.