Occupational asocialization and social decoupling
Corona changes social and economic life significantly and indefinitely. The cornerstones of how people interact with each other – at work and in their private lives – are shaking, and there will be no return to the world before the virus. This white paper is dedicated to the aspect of working in a home office.
1,800 Satellite Office customers were surveyed, of which 60% are self-employed entrepreneurs and 40% are salaried employees. Among them, 70% are knowledge workers and 30% are entrepreneurs. Slightly more than half of the respondents are 30-50 years old, 44% are over 50 years old.
As part of the changes to the labor market in Germany brought about by COVID-19, Satellite Office conducted a survey on the topic of “home office” among 1,800 customers. Whereas before the outbreak of the virus, the four megatrends of digitization, climate change, globalization and demographic change were the main focus of working environment analyses, the forced, abrupt change in working behavior brought about by the virus has resulted in completely new aspects. The immediate, unprepared retreat to the home office from very different work environments has brought drastic changes for people. The Satellite Office survey reflects what this cut has meant and still means to individuals in terms of working conditions, quality of work, stress and freedom.
Summary of the results
According to Satellite Office’s survey, Corona has paved the way for home offices while highlighting their weaknesses. The new path to Corona seems to be the combination of both. Home office speaks for the freedom of work scheduling (49%), self-determined work (20%), eliminated commutes (75%) and proximity to family and children (36%). In the office, communication (70%) and professional social life (30%) is better, technology and also the ergonomics of the workplace (20%).
The noticeable danger of social disengagement or professional asocialization could also be inferred from the many comments.
The full results of the survey can be found in our white paper here: https://www.satelliteoffice.de/download_file/1061/0
