Socialising with colleagues is what employees miss most about working in offices

Leading provider of digitally transformative IT services and solutions, Auxilion recently announces the results of a survey* which reveals that the thing office workers miss most about the office is socialising and interacting with colleagues (53%).

This was followed by separation between work life and home life (40%), routine (35%), getting out of the house/apartment (34%) and the sense of team (28%).

The survey – conducted by Censuswide and involving around 1,000 office workers in Ireland – found that some 39% of office workers say the pandemic has had a negative impact on their company culture.

Wexford ranked the highest county in this regard, with 55% of office workers from this area saying the pandemic has had a negative impact on same. This was followed by Kilkenny (53%), Laois (52%), Cavan (50%) and Meath (50%).

Despite this, just over a fifth (21%) of all survey respondents would like to be in the office full time going forward. The highest demand for a return to the office was among workers from Monaghan (56%), Kerry (35%) and Louth (32%).

The study also revealed the biggest challenges for office workers when working from home. These are less separation of personal and work lives (42%), being unable to talk to colleagues face-to-face (40%), loneliness/isolation (39%), a lack of motivation (30%) and non-work distractions (30%).

To break this down generationally, Gen Z respondents say the biggest challenge when working from home is lack of motivation (44%). Meanwhile, Millennials find loneliness/isolation (40%) the most difficult aspect and Gen X say it’s being unable to chat to colleagues face-to-face (46%).

For the Boomer generation, the top challenges were non-work distractions, lack of suitable technology/equipment and loneliness/isolation (36% respectively).

Furthermore, the research found that almost a fifth (18%) of those surveyed took a career break to look after children, parents, or other dependent relatives during the pandemic. In fact, almost half (47%) of Gen Z respondents took a career break for this reason. 

About the survey

All statistics relate to the office workers/respondents who completed this survey. The research was conducted by Censuswide between 19.01.2022 and 26.01.2022. The survey reached 1,001 Office workers in the Republic of Ireland. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.