8 in 10 working Indian adults excited about being back in office – Ipsos IndiaBus Survey on Work Modes

Easing of restrictions, vaccinations and cautious opening of offices with covid  protocols have led to employees going back to offices. A new Ipsos IndiaBus survey on Work Modes shows at least 8 in 10 Indian citizens polled said they and their family members have started physically going to office. Interestingly, at least 8 in 10 of Indians polled said they are excited about going back to their offices. Excitement was more rampant among men (81%) over women (77%). And those from west India were seen to be most ecstatic of going back physically to the office (92%) and those from tier 1 towns (93%).

Positives of going back to the office

The respondents provided a host of upsides of going back to the office: better work life balance (17%), health and wellbeing (16%), for maintaining routine (16%), better coordination (13%), for socialization (12%), for increased productivity/ efficiency (9%), more engagement with team members (8%) and dedicated working space (8%). Notably, health and wellbeing, was also mentioned prominently by those from eastern India (26%) and those from tier 3 towns (22%).

“It is highly palpable that most of those polled are highly enthusiastic about attending the office physically. They see tangible advantage in terms of work life balance, connecting with their teams, managing productivity etc. Long lockdowns did throw life out of gear for most,” says Parijat Chakraborty, Group Service Line Leader,  Public Affairs & Corporate Reputation, Ipsos India.    

Interestingly, 21% of women polled were excited  about socializing at the workplace versus only 10% males.

“Everyone has their own sets of motivations for attending the office physically, but it definitely is perceived as a mood elevator. Otherwise, pre-pandemic, going to work and excitement was not felt by some,” stated Chakraborty.

Why were those 20% not interested in going back to the workplace? There were several reasons cited by them: safety and security (53%), traffic/ congestion (28%), flexibility and agility at home (10%) and saving time and cost (9%).  In fact, worry around safety and security was more pronounced among those from SEC B households (68%) and from north India (66%). 35% from tier 2 towns said it saved time and cost for them.

Best mode of working   

The verdict is out. At least 53% of the working adults polled believe working from office is the best mode of working; 27% chose working from home and 20% opted for the hybrid mode. Work from office was endorsed the most by tier 1 respondents (72%) and by those from west India (64%). Work from home was endorsed by respondents from tier 3 towns most (54%).

Gauging parameters and modes

The survey  looked at the impact of different modes on some of the key parameters.

Productivity/ efficiency, the respondents believed was best achieved by working from the office (61%), though 26% believed it was possible to achieve while working from home and 15% saw no difference by the two modes. 68% in western India and 68% in tier 1 towns, also predominantly males (66%) reposed faith in working from office.

Work life balance was best achieved working from the office believed at least 59% of those polled; 28% reposed faith in working from home, while 16% saw no difference between the two modes for achieving the work equilibrium.  

Time management was better achieved while working from office believed 60% of those polled; 29% batted for work from home and 13% saw no difference by the two modes.  

Team building exercise was best achieved in the office believed 65% of the working adults polled. 24% believed working from home achieved it better. While 14% saw no difference between the 2 modes.   

“The survey shows one gets a better handle on work, productivity and team management face-to-face, in person. Though the pandemic provided an alternate, virtual method of communication and work management during the pandemic,” added Chakraborty.

About Ipsos IndiaBus

Ipsos IndiaBus, a monthly pan India omnibus quantitative survey, that uses a structured questionnaire and is conducted by Ipsos India on diverse topics polled 1197 working adults (full time and part time employed) from SEC A, B and C households, covering adults of both genders in a representative way. The survey is conducted in metros, tier1, tier 2 and tier 3 towns, providing a more robust and realistic view of Indians. The respondents were polled face to face and online. The  margin of error is +/-5% with 95% accuracy levels.