In NZ, hybrid workers are saving an average $250 per week, or $13,000 per year. Photo / 123rf
In NZ, hybrid workers are saving an average $250 per week, or $13,000 per year. Photo / 123rf
New research has revealed good news, and bad news, about working some of your week from home.
Hybrid workers are saving an average $250 per week, or $13,000 per year, according to a survey of 1026 New Zealanders.
Lower commuting costs and avoiding the pricey process of buying lunch inthe city generate most of the savings, said Garrett Heraty, the local managing director of networking giant Cisco, which commissioned a global study of some 28,000 workers across 27 countries (the research was commissioned by the tech giant, but carried out independently, and demographically weighted).
New Zealand respondents were saving around 15 per cent more per week than the global average, Heraty said.
There were also gains in time, with the average hybrid worker regaining four hours. That time was spent with family, friends and pets, and the equivalent of two extra workouts a week Heraty said - which fed into the survey's other major finding - 77.4 per cent said hybrid working has increased their overall wellbeing, and similar percentages said they were happier and had better work-life balance.
Most saw themselves as more productive working from home, and a big majority saw the ability to work from home as a must-have in any job description.
The bad news: Only 40.3 per cent of NZ respondents said their stress levels had reduced - markedly less than the global average. And only a quarter find hybrid working more relaxing and the working environment less pressurised.
Source / Cisco
In a possibly related finding, only 26.1 per cent said their organisation was very prepared for a hybrid working future.
And while 77.4 per cent said their manager trusted them to be productive when working remotely, only 58.6 per cent trusted their colleagues to be the same.
Some 59.4 per cent said there were challenges fully engaging with their company when working remotely, while 68.1 per cent saw problems fully engaging with colleagues.
Heraty says when the pandemic struck, many staff dispersed to home offices with creaky, insecure old routers, and other dated technology.
Cisco sells a mix of hardware and software for better remote working, from Wi-Fi routers than can adapt when a microwave oven interferes with wireless internet to video calling tech that can cancel out a barking dog.
The research did not collect data on how many organisations had paid for staff to have such a modern home fitout (with Cisco's gear or kit from others) but Heraty says "it would be a very short list".
Cisco's lineup also includes tech for securing a home office connection, and auditing the "posture" of every device connected to its systems. For example, checking if an iPhone has been updated to the latest version of iOS.
The Cisco exec believes hybrid working is here to stay.
He believes that almost every future meeting will include at least one remote participant - but the study found that 72.4 per cent believe their organisation needs to make hybrid working more inclusive.
And he says that staff's time in the office is now focused on face-to-face meetings.
That's a common theme, but his firm adds a couple of high-tech twists, including sensors on its video meeting hardware that can count the number of people in each meeting - which is pitched as a way of managing spaces. For example, you might have a meeting room with a capacity for 18 that's always booked - but the sensor data could reveal that most are booking it for pow-wows involving three or four people.
At the height of the pandemic, Cisco also used this technology to display occupancy levels of different parts of its office, the better for staff to find emptier spaces.
Could the sensor technology also be deployed for the more invasive purpose of gauging when staff working from home are in front of their screens?
"When our devices are configured in personal mode for home use, we do not track or measure occupancy information and metrics," Heraty says.
"Privacy at an organisation and individual level is of utmost importance for Cisco, and is the first consideration for our technology. When in a shared meeting space, occupancy can be tracked anonymously."
The Cisco boss says his company is eating its own dog food. Staff can choose where they work, though Heraty has endeavoured to make his firm's central Auckland office attractive with measures like fresh fruit, opening its car parks to everyone, and plans for EV and e-bike chargers.
