A third of euro zone employees want more remote working -ECB study

FRANKFURT  – Nearly a third of euro zone workers want to work from home more frequently than their employer allows them to, and are willing to change jobs to be able to do so, a European Central Bank study showed on Wednesday.

Businesses are still negotiating policies around working remotely, with the subject causing tension between unions and employers including at the ECB, which is offering fewer remote working days than its employees desire.

“Workers are more willing to change jobs if they have remote work preferences that exceed those they perceive their employers to have,” an ECB study showed. “30 percent of workers had work from home preferences that exceeded what they expected their employers to offer.”

Employees wanting greater remote work opportunities were more likely to seek fresh employment and actually change jobs, the study said.

The study concluded that about two-thirds of employees want to work from home at least one day per week, with commuting time being the biggest factor influencing a preference to work remotely.

“Workers who commute more than one hour each way prefer 10 work-from-home days per month, which is four days more than workers whose commute time is less than 15 minutes,” the ECB added.