Angus Reid poll says Canadians want to work from home

According to CityNews, the Angus Reid survey found that 20 percent of Canadian workers would quit immediately if forced to return to the office. Twenty-five percent said would actively seek out new employment. The data showed that the demographic most in favour of working remotely are aged 18-34 and men.

Reid predicts that hybrid office options will be in demand as the world transitions to a post-COVID economy. Forty-four percent would embrace working from home mostly, while 29 percent want to work from home all the time. Only 22 percent support working mostly from the office.

A meagre five percent want to work from the office all the time.

The poll indicated that a person’s occupation dictated whether or not they could work from home. Many hourly employees couldn't such as grocery workers, who were thrust into the role of frontline workers given the essential nature of their employment. That reality is reflected when examining the data split by income.

Notably, two-thirds of people in households with less than $50,000 in annual income said no one worked from home during the pandemic. Only one-in-five in households with greater than $150,000 annual income said the same.

Of those who worked at home at some point throughout the last 17 months, 73 percent are still working from home now. That number dips among those in the lower income brackets. Those in households earning $25,000 or less annually were called back to work at double the rate of those in households earning $150,000 or more annually.

Additionally, seven out of ten Canadians who worked from home found themselves more productive, though half of those aged 18 to 24 say their productivity was "awful" or "challenging."

While two-thirds said remote work negatively impacted their social life, three out of five Canadian workers saw improvements in their mental health.