Flexible Work Environments Survey
Note: Survey responses were collected May 11–21, 2021. These findings are part of a Conference Board series on work and pay during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Working Through COVID-19
Here’s what we found.
Q:
Note: Total does not add to 100 due to rounding.
Source: The Conference Board of Canada.
(n = 236; percentage of employees)
The pre-pandemic workplace
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June 25, 2021
The improbable became a necessity
On average, the organizations we surveyed saw the proportion of their remote workforce grow tenfold during the pandemic.
For many organizations, in-person work has long been the norm, and hybrid or remote work a perk offered by few. Disruption over the last 15 months has upended what employers and employees think of as normal—if normal still exists.
A substantial flip during the pandemic
Q:
(n = 236; percentage of employees)
Source: The Conference Board of Canada.
The pandemic has super-spread disruption, transforming the way we work like never before. In March 2020, what was long considered improbable for many organizations—a remote workforce—became an immediate reality.
Fully in-office
Hybrid
Fully remote
What now?
What’s in store for Canadian workplaces?
How are organizations answering the record number of employees who want to continue working from home?
Our upcoming data briefing will discuss these issues and more.
Research Associate
Jonathan Francis
Research Associate
Ruchi Chawla
Research Associate
Kelsey Coburn
What work arrangements and new flexibilities are on the table?
And what concerns do employers have around how much time will be spent in-office, recruitment/retention, and corporate real estate needs?
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Fully in-office
Hybrid
Fully remote
Now with the vaccine rollout well under way, organizations are beginning to consider what the workplace of the not-so-distant future will look like.
The Conference Board of Canada asked organizations across the country whether they’re planning on calling employees back to the office, offer remote work, or a combination of both.
For context, in January 2021, 5.4 million Canadian employees aged 15 to 69 worked most of their hours from home, compared with only 1.8 million pre-pandemic.
Before the pandemic
, what proportion of your workforce
was fully in-office, hybrid, or fully remote?
, what proportion of your workforce
Throughout the pandemic
has been fully in-office, hybrid, or fully remote?
Get an inside look at our respondent profile.
Download the data
Download the data
For these answers and more, access our data briefing.