Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently issued an "ultimatum" to employees: either return to the office or resign. With the lifting of the restrictions on the COVID-19 in the United States, employees of many companies, except Tesla, are facing an important choice: return to full-time offices or find a new job that is more flexible. The survey shows that many people prefer the latter**
According to the report "working population in 2022: a global workforce perspective" released by ADP Research Institute, nearly two-thirds (64%) of the respondents said that if the employer forced them to return to the office full-time, they had found a new job, or would consider looking for a new job. The survey was conducted in November 2021, and 32924 employees were sampled in 17 countries including the United States, India and Italy.
More than half (52%) of the respondents said that they would consider accepting a pay cut of 11% if they could ensure "a more flexible workplace or a mixed approach".
NELA Richardson, chief economist of ADP, wrote in the report: "As today's workers reassess the existence of work in their lives, the epidemic marks a paradigm shift, which is an unprecedented major risk for employers. Our research emphasizes that employees' views on work have changed to a great extent, and now the priority is to consider broader, deeper and more personalized factors in essence."
The survey shows that younger employees (aged between 18 and 24) are least interested in returning to full-time office work. In fact, 71% of the respondents in this age group said that if they were forced to return to the office, they would consider looking for a new job.