Top priorities for workers: It’s not working from home

Quiet quitting and employee frustration has not disappeared by any stretch. At the same time the labor market remains as tight as it has been in decades. In fact Forbes Advisor says 40% of employers believe workers leave their job to find employment that offer better benefits. So attraction and retention with the right benefits remains an important tool in the HR toolbox.

A new Forbes Advisor study shows:

• 32% of workers report they’ve quit their job for higher pay, while 1 in 5 workers have quit their job to have work-from-home options in a new role.
• 1 in 5 in-office workers want to adopt a 4-day work-week.
• 26% of remote workers are still seeking flexible hours from their employers.
• 1 in 10 workers would take a pay cut to have access to better benefits.
• 22% of workers report their current role does not have adequate professional growth opportunities.

Employees, according to the report, are looking for employer-covered health care, life insurance, pension and retirement plans, mandatory paid time-off, and mental health assistance.

The report also notes that employees and employers are aligned on the most important elements of company culture. For example, work-life balance is the most valued elements of company culture with 51% of employees and 47% of employers naming it as the top priority in company culture. Also, 20% of employees and 27% of employers believe trust by peers and management is important, and finally, 11% of employees and 8% of employers named team camaraderie as an important cultural benefit.

Employers significantly misjudged the importance of virtual team-bonding activities for employees; 31% of employers named this a top remote-work benefit, while just 11% of employees said the same. Notably, it made it into the top five for both groups.

Another top-five benefit for employees, though only 6% of this group named it, is internet assistance. This perk didn’t break into employers’ top five at all. But this is worth taking note of because reliable internet service is vital to a remote worker’s ability to do their job, and employees may need to opt for more expensive internet service or hotspot backups to stay connected for work.

Interest in a four-day workweek was relatively low across the board, but workers 26 and older showed significantly more interest than younger workers, in some cases twice as much as workers 18 to 25. This might reflect a need for workers in later life stages to make room for caretaking work, or possibly their greater confidence in their ability to do a job more efficiently. The youngest workers might also be more comfortable with a five-day workweek if work provides the bulk of their opportunities for socializing and personal development.

Related: ‘Caring’ as an employee benefit: Your employees will thank you for it

Just like with a four-day workweek, a majority of workers did not say working from home was an important benefit for them, but interest was highest with workers in life stages most likely to have child care or other caretaking responsibilities.