One in six workers would change jobs if forced to return to the office

‘Offering flexible or remote working, extra days off and salary bonuses will help businesses attract and retain staff,’ states study

One fifth of respondents had concerns that their employer would favour staff who came into the office (Getty)

Roughly one in six (16 per cent) workers in the UK say they are considering changing jobs because their employer is forcing them to return to the office full-time, new research has found.

According to a survey of 1,000 people conducted by Slack, the online messaging service, those who are most determined to continue working from home are in IT, sales, legal, marketing, or telecoms.

The study highlighted other reasons as to why people are considering changing jobs, including failure to increase staff pay and a poor bonus scheme.

It also found that one fifth of respondents had concerns that their employer would favour staff who came into the office.

Chris Mills, of Slack, commented: “With the significant worker reshuffle expected to continue this year, businesses must be in tune with what workers really want.

“Our research suggests that offering flexible or remote working, extra days off and salary bonuses will help businesses attract and retain staff.

“At Slack, we have a ‘Fri-Yay’ initiative, where on one Friday each month the entire company has the day off, which allows people to take a breath and restore themselves.”

Now that England has gone back to plan A restrictions, the government no longer requires people to work from home, meaning that many are facing a return to the office.

The new plans come after Boris Johnson called for workers to ditch remote working altogether in October.

During a keynote Conservative Party conference speech, the prime minister said a productive workforce could only come from “face-to-face meetings and water cooler gossip”.