As the world slowly goes back to normal, many Millennials are still working from home. Will they go back to the office?
In May 2020, YPulse found that 61% of employed Millennials were working from home full or part time post-COVID. The pandemic sent a generation of workers into home-office mode, shifting the future of what work might look like. Even as lockdowns start to ease up and more people get vaccinated, plenty of major companies like Spotify and Facebook have adjusted their workplaces to either going full-time or part-time remotely—or giving their workers the flexibility to come in whenever they want.
But just how many young employees want to continue working from home post-COVID? YPulse’s recent employment and career goals behavioral report explores Gen Z and Millennials’ employment status, outlook on the economy, and the significant COVID-related shifts in their career goals. We also asked all about working from home, and found that over half of employed Millennials are still working from home in some capacity:
Fifty-eight percent of Millennials are working from home full or part-time—nearly the same number who reported working from home at this time in 2020. Others have reported that Millennials are less comfortable returning to the office than Boomers, and while two in five Millennials do tell us they are going to work in-person, clearly at-home work is still the norm for most. So, will they ever go back?
We asked about their post-COVID work futures, asking them to choose from responses that included “I’m planning to continue working from home part-time post-COVID” and “I’m planning to continue working from home full time post-COVID.” Based on those answers, we found that over half of Millennials currently working from home plan to continue to do so in some capacity:
More than half (55%) of 20-38-year-olds plan to work from home post-COVID compared to 45% who do not plan to work from home post-COVID. For those of you doing the math, this means that over 25% of employed Millennials overall plan to continue working from home in some capacity going forward. Specifically, 37% of Millennials plan to continue working from home part-time post-COVID, while 27% are planning to continue to work from home full-time post-COVID. While that does mean that many will be returning to the office, we can expect that flexible and hybrid work schedules will be an expectation for this generation of workers—setting a precedent for those who come after them. The desire to have the ability to work from home is strong: According to a recent survey from anonymous professional network Blind, 64% of employees surveyed say they would rather work permanently from home than take a $30K salary rise, and there have been reports that some are even quitting their jobs instead of giving up working from home.
Though working from home was a switch and somewhat rocky change for some, a year of getting used to it has changed many of their outlooks. The number who say that working from home has been a difficult transition decreased from 36% in April 2020 to 28% in April 2021, and those who say they get less work done working from home decreased from 34% to 22%. Meanwhile, the number who say they are looking forward to going back to their workplace has remained steady at 41% in 2020 and 41% in 2021. Some people, even Millennial, just prefer going into the office, and many still appreciate having in-person interactions with their colleagues to form bonds, and their bosses and supervisors for feedback. But they want the choice to work from home when they want to as well.
YPulse Business users can access the full employment and career goals behavioral report and data here.
Don’t have a YPulse Business account? Find out more here.
