Employers in Canada are struggling to convince their people to work from the office but are overlooking a willingness from employees to return in a four-day working week. That is according to a new study by global workplace creation experts, Unispace.

Returning for Good, a Unispace Global Workplace Insights report found that half of workers are in the office four or more days a week, but just 31% like being in the workplace this regularly. The disconnect between what employees want and the work set-up on offer is a potential driver, as 41% of employees currently “hot-desk,” or share a workstation with other employees, but 79% suggested they would be more inclined to head into the office if they were given their own assigned desk.

According to the study, there is also a misunderstanding between workers and their managers over what employees value and need in Canadian workplaces; more than half (55%) of the employees surveyed feel reluctant to return to the office, above the global average of 51%, with the main factors including a lack of privacy (34%), lower levels of productivity (29%) and feeling they are less effective in a busier working environment (28%).

Employers believe that the main benefit of working in an office is access to learning and development opportunities (27%), which ranked a lowly 14^th on the list of factors employees like of being in the workplace. If employers really want Canadian workers back in the office full time, they might want to consider the benefits of a three-day weekend, as 87% of employees surveyed reported being interested in trialling a four-day workweek.

“The data from Canadian respondents shows that employers are clearly emphasizing the value of the workplace, but this, by itself, may not be enough to drive successful employee engagement and performance. What our data also highlights is that employers may be missing an opportunity to better define the purpose of their office and how this can best enable their employees’ full work ecosystems.” 

Research was conducted in partnership with Opinium Research between 3 April 2023 and 14 April 2023. The survey included 9,500 employees and 6,650 business leaders from across 17 countries worldwide – including 1,500 US employees in companies 50+ employees and 1,500 senior decision makers in companies 50+ employees in the US. Care was taken to ensure that the geographic and demographic characteristics of the populations surveyed are properly represented.