Masks and regular testing at the workplace were part of the corona prevention standard in many companies in times of high incidence. This is also supported by a large number of employees.
Almost every second employee (48 percent) in Germany would like masks to be compulsory and regular corona tests at the workplace if there is another strong corona wave in autumn. Only a minority (14 percent) then no longer want any restrictions at all, as the study “Working 2022” by the health insurance company pronova BKK shows.
Another 4 percent stated that they only really felt safe in their home office. According to the information, around 1,200 employees aged 18 and over were surveyed online in September 2022 to collect the data.
Big differences in the home office regulation
According to the survey, most employees (64 percent) do not want to work mostly from home forever. However, a majority also see many advantages when working there, such as a better work-life balance (64 percent). Significantly more than half (57 percent) also find working in the home office more efficient and productive. However, many are literally reaching their limits: 54 percent of those surveyed stated that they would not be able to work from home regularly in the long run due to the premises.
There are big differences in the regulations for working from home: For more than a third of those surveyed (35 percent), working from home is generally not possible, for example in nursing professions, in gastronomy or in retail. Almost a quarter (23 percent) stated that their employer did not offer a home office. Almost a third (30 percent) can work from home at any time without coordination, slightly more than one in ten (12 percent) a fixed number of days. (dpa)