Home office remains established despite return debate

Study: Companies stick to home office

12.08.2024 Source: dpa 2 min reading time

Providers on the topic

During the Corona pandemic, many employees worked from home. Despite current debates about returning to the office, a new study shows that home offices are established in many companies.

Home office is now standard for many companies in Germany.

(Image: Nightcorn – stock.adobe.com)

Despite the debate about returning to the office, many companies are not turning away from working from home. In 82 percent of companies in the information economy, employees work from home at least once a week, according to a survey by the ZEW economic research institute, which was made available to the German Press Agency. In the manufacturing sector, which is more tied to a specific location, the figure is 48 percent.

According to study director Daniel Erdsiek, the proportion of companies that allow their employees to work from home at least one day a week has remained at a consistently high level since the Corona pandemic. There are currently no signs of a move away from such offers, it said. In last year’s study, the figure was 80 percent for companies in the information industry and 45 percent in the manufacturing sector.

Debate about returning to the office

In recent months, there has been a debate about the return from home office to the office at companies such as the software group SAP or Deutsche Bank. Most recently, Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) also called for the right to work from home. The coalition agreement of the traffic light coalition stipulates that employees – depending on their respective profession – should be given the right to work from home. This has not yet been implemented.

Home office established since pandemic

The study also shows how strongly mobile working has become established in recent years: Before the Corona crisis, the proportion of companies with home office regulations in the information economy – which includes the information and communications technology sector, media service providers and knowledge-intensive service providers – was only 48 percent. In the manufacturing sector, the figure was 24 percent.

“Looking ahead to the next two years, companies do not expect to reduce offers of at least one home office day per week,” Erdsiek said. Quite the opposite: the proportion of companies that want to offer home office in 2026 is expected to continue to rise – to 88 percent in the information industry and 57 percent in the manufacturing sector. Companies also expect the proportion of employees who will use such offers to increase.

More home offices in larger companies

Despite the increase, the study also shows that the prevalence is decreasing with increasing frequency: In the information economy, for example, 22 percent of companies currently allow their employees to work from home five days a week. Before the pandemic, the figure was 12 percent. It also shows that companies with more employees also have a more extensive home office offering.

Around 1,200 German companies in the manufacturing and information industries took part in the representative survey in June. Among other things, questions were asked about the proportion of employees working from home and the expected changes in home office usage by 2026.

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