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39% Of Workers Would Rather Quit Than Return To Office Full-Time According To Survey

Updated September 8, 2021

Although there are many workers throughout the United States who work in similar circumstances as they did before the pandemic emerged, those who haven't heard their jobs described as "essential" or "front-line" have been more likely to work from home.

And while that has introduced its own awkward adjustments and a glut of Zoom meetings, many who found themselves in this situation also ended up seeing some pretty clear advantages to their "new normal."

So much so, that some of them will go to any lengths to ensure they don't have to go back to the way things were.

In a recent poll conducted by Morning Consult, 39% of the 1,000 U.S. adults surveyed made it clear that they would consider quitting if they were made to return to the office full-time.

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According to Bloomberg, who commissioned the survey, this response was more common among millennial and Gen-Z workers as 49% of them said remote work flexibility mattered that much.

As Insider reported, a separate survey conducted by FlexJobs last month found that 58% of the 2,100 people surveyed felt the same way, with only 2% saying they wanted to return to the office full-time.

While major employers vary in whether they're adopting remote work or hybrid models, some business leaders are maintaining that time spent in the office is crucial for collaboration and company culture.

Reddit | BigBeanMarketing

As Bloomberg reported, about 30% of 133 surveyed U.S. executives thought that three days a week spent in office was necessary for this purpose, while 20% stuck to the traditional five-day model.

Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase & Co. went as far as to say that remote working isn't working for "Those who want to hustle."

But as far as a significant number of employees and analysts are concerned, this is a risky way of thinking.

As management professor Anthony Klotz at Texas A&M University said, "If you’re a company that thinks everything’s going back to normal, you may be right but it’s pretty risky to hope that’s the case."

After all, even those who weren't going as far as saying they'd quit if they had to return to the office saw some significant benefits to working from home.

Reddit | gaudiraudi

For 84% of those polled in the FlexJobs survey, a major perk concerned the fact that they no longer had to commute anywhere.

Saving on the costs associated with travelling and being around the office also factored into their attitudes heavily, as 75% cited this as a reason to prefer working from home.

Over a third of respondents noted that they had saved at least $5,000 a year by working remotely.

But while those were the biggest factors in reluctance to return to the office, they weren't the only ones.

Reddit | stocklett

Thirty-two percent of those who responded to the FlexJobs survey remained concerned about COVID-19 and particularly about vaccine-hesitancy among their coworkers.

Meanwhile, 26% mentioned the fact that they didn't have to be away from their families or pets as much, while 15% thought remote work better accommodated their childcare responsibilities.

As 24-year-old Gene Garland said, "Working inside of a building really does restrict time a lot more than you think. A lot of people are afraid of the cycle where you work and work and work -- and then you die."

h/t: Bloomberg

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