JLL: Poles work in the office an average of 2.4 days a week vs. 4.1 before the pandemic

Polish office workers work stationary an average of 2.4 days a week compared to 4.1 days before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by JLL. The willingness to work from the office up to three days a week was expressed by a total of 75% of private sector respondents.

"Contrary to popular belief, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, Polish employees were not staying in the office a full 5 days a week. Our analysis shows that prior to 2020, office attendance averaged 4.1 days, translating into an attendance rate of 82%. This office attendance was an argument for the company to provide a work desk for every employee, every day of the week," said Head of Workplace Strategy and Change Management Jakub Zielinski, quoted in a release on the report "2024: the new normal or the next stage of hybrid transformation ...or how are Poles returning to the office?".

Currently, four years after the pandemic outbreak, office attendance is around 50 per cent and employees spend an average of 2.4 days at the company's headquarters, placing Poland between the UK (2.2 days) and the Netherlands (2.6 days) and Germany (2.9 days), it added.

"It is clear from our survey that the majority of private sector employees in Poland prefer the hybrid model. The willingness to work from the office up to three days a week was expressed by a total of 75% of respondents. The largest number, more than 40% of employees, would choose to work from the office one day a week or less, and another 19% would like to perform their duties stationary two days a week. Interestingly, there is also a large group interested in working stationary full or almost full time (i.e. 4-5 days) - these employees accounted for a total of 25% of those surveyed," said head of the Market Research Department Mateusz Polkowski.

"Employers, on the other hand, have a markedly different view of office attendance 38% believe that employees should be present in the office 4-5 days a week, with an emphasis on full-time stationary work. Such a wide gap in expectations is a cause of contention between employers and employees. In many cases, employees do not fully comply with the mandatory office attendance imposed from above. However, we need to bear in mind that hybrid working on such a massive scale is a fairly new concept, and any patterns and schemes are being refined on an ongoing basis to better suit the new reality," he added.

Source: JLL and ISBnews