A new study has found that most office workers are planning to return to their workplace this winter, to keep energy costs down at home, as a typical household energy bill is expected to rise to £2,500 from 1st October.

Cost of living crisis

Instantprint surveyed over 1,000 people, to reveal that 85% of employees found the idea of working from the office more appealing amid the cost of living crisis.

Most UK workers haven’t had a pay rise to help with the spiralling cost of living, so 45% of respondents said they would be more likely to commute into the office to alleviate the impact of high energy bills, and 15% claimed they would choose to work from the office for the whole of winter.

Dilemma for employees

Since the pandemic started, many workers have found that cutting the commute and working from home instead brings a better work-life balance. But with rising energy costs, they are now facing a dilemma.

Employees will now have to consider the expense of their commute with the rising petrol prices and train fares, against the energy bills they’ll be faced with when working at home.

Challenges for businesses

Large number of workers suddenly returning to the office is likely to pose problems for employers, not only the increase in bills it will bring, but also the right infrastructure needs to be available, as 15% of offices are no longer equipped to handle a full team.

With 73% of employees surveyed saying that employers should be doing more to support their workers with rising energy prices, and 4% admitting they weren’t being supported at all, businesses will also need to look at additional support for struggling employees.

Businesses will also have to manage their office space, their team’s diaries and handle differing employee preferences, as to whether they’ll come into the office, continue to work from home, or start hybrid working.

How LeavePlanner can help

With LeavePlanner, administrators can effectively manage work schedules, by specifying employee working hours, working patterns and rotas.

The system also makes it easy to maintain correct staffing levels, by managing holiday and staff absences, as well as shift timetables for cover staff.

For a free, no obligation 30 day trial, call Steve on 01252 636 070 or email support@leaveplanner.com.