Some 54% of employees in Romania prefer a flexible mix that does not overpass 75% of their work time in remote conditions, according to a regional survey commissioned by real estate consultancy CBRE.
The agency points out that just before the fourth wave of Covid hit Romania, the gradual return of employees to offices started both locally and globally.
The survey shows that around 60% of small companies with up to 100 employees already allow access to the workplace for all their employees, compared to 24% of medium-sized companies (up to 10,000 employees) and 11% of large companies (over 10,000 people).
"It is interesting to notice that the Romanians who have returned to office, for full week work schedule were with 60% more than the CEE average, before the fourth wave of Covid. Employees would appreciate if their employers will put more effort into building a healthy corporate culture, and into the creation of a safe and sustainable workplace that induces physical and mental well-being. 43% of the respondents said programs supporting mental health are important. These factors can be expected to be reflected, among other things, in the increased interest in the certification of the indoor environment," said Daniela Gavril, Head of CBRE Romania Research.
CBRE’s international survey concludes that offices remain the main place for cultivating relationships, passing on values and experiences.
“Traditional workplaces have been static for too long, although our working days are full of dynamically changing activities. While our work has not been fundamentally changed, we feel that beyond a work resetting time, we live in a period of technological revolution. All of us became fluent in using new tools, accessing data from any place on any device, connecting and controlling all virtual platforms. All this in the shortest time ever. This is an ongoing revolution that impacts our office life. I can only recommend companies that decide to switch to a hybrid model of work to involve their employees in the decision and communicate consistently about the new principles in the workplace," added Tudor Ionescu, Head of CBRE’s Romania Advisory & Transaction | Office.
According to CBRE’s 2021 EMEA Occupiers Survey , there are three basic approaches of companies:
- The primary workplace is the office (preferred by 15% of companies): Companies that choose this model consider the personal presence of employees in the office to be essential for their operation and culture. It allows for remote work rather exceptionally.
- Combining office with remote work (favoured by 79% of companies): This approach is preferred by companies that expect a reasonable balance between teleworking and time spent in the office so that employees are sufficiently involved in team activities.
- Predominant remote working (reported by 1% of companies): The approach of organizations that found the recent "experiment" so effective that they raised work from home to a new standard. They will still keep at least part of the office space for solving tasks requiring personal cooperation.
