More than half of those working from home are still working from their bedrooms, according to the latest research.  

Research from hybrid working platform Capella found that 21% of employees working from home work from their living room, while 18% having a home office. 

Its report on the first quarter of 2023 also found that office desk-usage is down 17% post-COVID, as 58% of employees prefer a hybrid model of working.  

Capella CEO Criona Turley said many employers are mandating in-person office hours as a result of this drop.  

“Some of them just say that you need to be in three days a week and it's up to you what days you come in,” she said. “And others say you need to be in three days a week and there is an anchor day when you must be there.” 

Hybrid working

Mandated policies lead to increased turnout in offices, but these policies and incentives to come into the office are not enough to bring all employees back to the office.  

“The cold beers, cookies and cash incentives are kind of short-sighted,” Ms Turley said. “There's much more depth to getting this working right for organisations.” 

She said employees are more likely to go to the office if their employers are also there – and if they think more employees are in the office, they have more desire to return.  

However, Ms Turley said companies can benefit from less office space as regular work practices have evolved since the pandemic.  

“An organisation has put so much money into the building that they're kind of obsessed with making that work for them,” she said.  

Capella offers workspaces for hybrid companies, which Ms Turley says can cut costs for businesses.  

“We've had organisations who ended up renting out the third floor of the building, giving their own employees a much better experience and also bringing cash into the business,” she said.