Almost All UK Researchers Want Work-from-Home Option

An overwhelming majority of UK market researchers (96%) say they want to work from home to some extent in the future following the Covid-19 crisis, according to findings from the 2020 Mental Wellbeing in Research Survey.

For the study, the Market Research Society (MRS) and insights agency Opinium called on industry execs to engage with employees about the future of the workplace, and 1,143 UK researchers responded. Overall results highlight both positive and negative effects from people working at home, with respondents divided over the impact of lockdown on their mental health - 37% saying it has improved their wellbeing and 33% saying the opposite.

Not having to commute was deemed a good experience, with 62% of those surveyed claiming it had improved their mental health, and 59% admitting it has made them feel more relaxed. However, nearly a third of survey participants reported finding it harder to stay in contact with colleagues, and almost half said they had struggled to draw a line between work and rest. The MRS has now launched the MRS FLEX Forum - a specialist group of industry professionals who are passionate about working from home, and provide guidance and advice on how to create a happy and productive workforce through blended working.

In addition, the research suggests that people are growing more comfortable speaking about their mental wellbeing with their colleagues. In the past year, 57% of survey participants had told someone at work about a mental health struggle, compared with 36% in 2019. Last year, 40% of those who had struggled with their mental health said they didn't take time off because they felt it wasn't a valid reason to do so. The level of people feeling that way has fallen to 28% this year. Clearly, however, comparisons are difficult given what's happened in 2020.

Despite the ongoing pandemic, mental wellbeing scores have remained stable compared with the findings in 2019 - as measured by the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. MRS CEO Jane Frost comments: 'In the research sector, the view is overwhelmingly in favour of some degree of flexible working in the future, but there are also significant aspects and structures of office life that practitioners have been missing. Blending the two - finding new ways to engender workplace culture, serendipity and creativity, while retaining the benefits of fewer stressful commutes and the greater childcare flexibility that working from home provides - will be vital in supporting the mental wellbeing of workforces in the future'.

The survey will be launched and discussed during a webinar ( www.mrs.org.uk/event/professional-webinars/mental-wellbeing-in-research-survey-2020 ) with Sophie Holland, SRE at Opinium, and HR consultant Stuart McNicholas, on Wednesday 26th August.

Web sites: www.mrs.org.uk and www.opinium.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.