The number of Montrealers giving up some aspects of "work from home" culture and returning to their workplace at least part of the time has more than doubled since June, according to a new survey by the Montreal Board of Trade in collaboration with Léger.
Montreal Board of Trade President and CEO Michel Leblanc said in a statement that the number of people going back to the office, either full-time or part-time, has climbed from 28% in June, to 47% in August, to 61% in the current survey – which was conducted from October 26 to November 5 of this year.
The results show "once again that the return of workers to the office is underway," Leblanc said. The most recent figures, which include 29% going back full time and 32% a few days a week, are "a very promising advance for the revitalization of downtown Montreal," he said.
The Board of Trade says its main goal with the survey was to discover how managers and employees felt about returning to a shared workspace. The survey focused on managers' and workers' feelings around issues like mental health, the use of the vaccine passport, and going back to working and doing business face-to-face.
The results show that 71% of workers are comfortable with the idea of returning to work in person. And for 62% of those who came back to the grind of regular office life, the possibility of working flexible hours was a big incentive.
At the same time, a majority of respondents – 76%, down from 78% in August and 84% in June – still like working from home.
The impacts of working from home were nonetheless notable, with 40% of people reporting a loss of team spirit and about 29% having trouble maintaining a healthy work/life balance.
