Digital Workspace Study: What Do Employees Need to Work in the Office?

When asked to rate their user experience working from an office, only 54 percent of our survey respondents say it is either “seamless” or “pretty good.” One in five (21 percent) say it is “not good” or “terrible” and 25 percent say their office working experience is merely “good enough.” More women than men say their experience working from the office is seamless or pretty good (57 percent vs. 52 percent) while more men than women say their office working experience is not good or terrible (25 percent vs. 17 percent).

Looking deeper into the survey results by age demographics, 58 percent of those who are 35 to 54 years old and 56 percent of those 55 and older say their in-office working experience is seamless or pretty good, while only 50 percent of those 18 to 34 years say likewise. Those aged 18 to 34 years more often rank in-office working as a less satisfying experience with 23 percent saying it is not good or terrible.

Those working for medium (27 percent) and large (21 percent) businesses more often say their in-office experience is not good or terrible vs. those who work for small business (15 percent).

CDW Canada Digital Workspace Senior Manager Brian Matthews says he’s not surprised that many workers are less than satisfied with their experience when working from the office. Based on conversations he’s had with organizations, Matthews says many are struggling to create seamless, in-office experiences for employees.    

“When people compare how easy it is to work from home after three years of the pandemic vs. what it’s now like to work in the office, for some it’s become more challenging for them to work productively in the office,” he says.

Many companies are currently retrofitting their collaboration spaces and upgrading videoconferencing technologies to ensure these are purpose-built and ready for use in a post-COVID world, Matthews adds. And businesses may need to consider how they can convince employees there is unique value to working in the office to counter a strong declared preference to work from home.

“Sometimes organizations struggle to communicate to coworkers the value proposition of working in the office,” he says. “There are certain aspects of an in-office experience that will never be able to compete with working from a home office and vice-versa.”

People often go to offices to rebuild and re-establish team bonds and socialize with people, Matthews says, explaining workers will go to offices more frequently if they know their work friends, colleagues and direct teams are going to be there, too. 

“That social component and ability to engage with teammates and colleagues in person is an absolute advantage that an in-office experience has,” he says.

The CDW digital workspace survey reveals 70 percent of respondents overall say they prefer to work from home, but not everyone can. A total of 17 percent say the need to physically be in an office to do their job prevents them from working from home and it is the most cited reason to work in an office. Personal distractions plus limited collaboration and communication were cited by 12 percent of respondents, while 10 percent say they simply prefer to work in the office.

Matthews admits certain industries and roles can only be done in office settings.

“We learned exactly what those roles were during COVID,” he says. “And, when looking at reasons why people must work from the office, there are many companies that haven’t yet made the investments in technologies and tools to make working remotely possible for their employees.

“I think what we may also be seeing reflected in some of these survey results is perhaps different people with different home setups having different blockers when it comes to working from home. Poorly equipped home working setups are going to push them back into the office.”

Other reasons that survey respondents say prevent them from working at home include:

• A company’s lack of remote work policies and infrastructure (9%)
• Data security and privacy reasons (6%)
• Remote internet connections that aren’t fast enough (5%)
• Not having necessary IT equipment and hardware (5%)
• Technical difficulties (4%)

Nearly one in four (23 percent) IT decision-makers overall say their jobs require that they be in the office or onsite. Of that group, 22 percent in medium businesses say they must work in an office to do their jobs vs. 14 percent of those in a small business. IT decision-makers also cite data security and privacy reasons (18 percent), the limits of collaboration and communication (16 percent), not having necessary IT hardware and equipment (15 percent), personal distractions (15 percent) and a preference to work in the office (14 percent) as reasons that prevent working from home.

Full-time employees (18 percent) more often say they need to be in the office vs. those who are part time (9 percent). Full-time employees also cite the need to collaborate and communicate with other workers (13 percent) more often than part-time workers (5 percent) as reasons that prevent working from home.

When asked what the most important technologies are when working from the office, a high-speed internet or network connection was deemed “very important” or “important” by an overwhelming 92 percent of survey respondents. This response was almost equally the same for men and women as well as for all three surveyed age brackets: 18 to 34 years, 35 to 54 years and 55 and older. A total of 7 percent overall said high-speed connections were “moderately” or “slightly” important.

In terms of other IT equipment, respondents say the following are very important or important when working from the office:

• Collaboration platforms 82%
• Adequate lighting 79%
• Dedicated workstation 77%
• Ergonomic chair 71%
• Multiple monitors 71%
• Headset 68%
• Printer/scanner 61%
• Webcam 58%
• Docking station 56%
• Adjustable desk 44%
• Ergonomic mouse 43%
• Ergonomic keyboard 42%
• Laptop stand 31%

“Whether we’re talking about in-office or at home, people want to be productive and to be productive they need the right tools,” Matthews says. “So, when we talk about working in the office, employees need tools for videoconferencing from their desks, technology for hybrid meetings in boardrooms and the ability to communicate with team members both in office and potentially around the country and world.”

People also want to be comfortable wherever they work.  

“I think this is another opportunity where the in-office experience can outcompete the home office,” Matthews says. “Some people at home will have a perfectly manicured and comfortable setup. Others may not have the means, desire or ability to create that. If organizations focus on improving the comfort provided to people in the office, they can use it as a differentiator to bring them back.”

In-office headsets are much more desired by those in large businesses with 75 percent of respondents saying such equipment is important or very important to them vs. 57 percent of those in small businesses. Multiple monitors are more often deemed important to those in a large (77 percent) and medium (76 percent) business vs. only 55 percent of those in small businesses.

Printers/scanners are more often deemed important by those in medium (72 percent) and small (68 percent) businesses vs. 50 percent of those in large businesses. A total of 92 percent of respondents in a large business say collaboration platforms are important to them vs. 74 percent of those in small and medium businesses.

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