What determines the differences between Dutch hybrid workers' location choice clusters?
September 2024 | Sjors Houtveen, Dennis La Brijn, Rianne Appel-Meulenbroek, Anca Gosselink
Purpose
This explorative study examines location preferences of knowledge workers in the context of hybrid working. Despite the popularity of hybrid working in popular and academic discourse, it remains unclear who wants to work from home, the office, or other locations and in what proportion.
Approach
Drawing on survey data collected among 9,799 knowledge workers from Dutch public organisations during 2023, this study explores hybrid workers’ location choices, work activities, workplace satisfaction, demographics, and work-related aspects. Using Ward’s Agglomerative hierarchical cluster analyse, six distinct location of work clusters were identified. Differences between the clusters were uncovered with a Chi-Square test and ANOVA.
Results
This study underscores a significant shift towards flexible working, with 64% of employees working outside the office. It identifies six distinct location choice clusters. The results indicate that individual flexibility enables workers to align their location choices better with task demands. Known challenges such as privacy concerns and insufficient support for focused work are being addressed by the mainly home and regular workers clusters. However, the results also highlight that all activities are performed by workers in all clusters, emphasizing the ongoing need to provide workplaces that facilitate both focused work and social interaction.
Value
This study provides insights in the decision patterns of knowledge workers in the context of hybrid working. This helps organisations balance individual preferences of workers and organisational goals. The clusters facilitate meaningful discussion surrounding collective (team)agreements and the design of the office space. Future research implications for strategic staffing decisions and workplace optimisation are discussed.
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