The majority of office workers believe vaccines should be mandatory for the post-pandemic return to work

NEW YORK, May 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Important research today from Haven Life reveals that a majority of office workers believe that employees should be required to receive COVID-19 vaccines (53%) in order to return to work. Haven Life, a customer-centric life insurance agency backed and wholly owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), conducted this national survey to better understand office workers' quality of work and home life during the pandemic, as well as their perceptions on what post-pandemic office work should look like.

While the majority of respondents (56%) indicated that they don't miss working at their office, there were nuanced differences in how parents viewed their work and home life as well as their thoughts on returning to the office. The key survey insights include:

Parents with young kids at home are more ready to return to the office: When asked about desires to return to the office, parents with young children at home (ages 12 and under) are actually the most likely to want to return to the office (63%), when compared to parents with older children (51%) and those without kids (38%).

Parents were more likely to say their quality of work decreased during the pandemic: When asked about their overall quality of work, 43% of parents with young kids at home reported that their quality of work decreased during the pandemic. Only 24% of those with older kids or no kids at home stated that their quality of work decreased.

Additional findings from the survey include:

• Fifty-seven percent of respondents believe office work will be different in future: In terms of what office life may look like in the future, 43% of respondents said they're expecting it to go back to the same as before, while 57% believe otherwise: 49% said they expect more options for hybrid/flexible work from home, and 8% said they don't expect to ever go back into the office regularly again.
  
  
• The best parts of working from home are saving time, money and the ability to set one's own schedule: When asked about what they liked the most about remote work, individuals selected not having to commute most often (62%), followed by having a more flexible schedule (38%), saving more money (34%), spending more time with family (34%), and sleeping in (33%).
  
  
• Workers do miss some aspects of office life: When asked about what they miss the most about office life, overall, respondents most frequently selected interacting with their co-workers (73%), separation of work and home life (40%), having a dedicated space for work (31%), and the ability to focus and be productive (30%). Meanwhile, twenty-two percent of respondents said they missed their office snacks.
  
  
• Employees overwhelmingly trust that their employers will provide a safe environment: Eighty-three percent of respondents believe their employers are capable of providing safe COVID protocols upon re-entry to the office. Yet at the same time, most respondents believe that vaccines should be mandatory before employees are allowed back to work (53%). At the time the survey was taken, employees also stated that employers should require mask-wearing (71%) this year.
  
  
• The past year taught office workers to better consider financial wellness: When asked about their financial considerations during the pandemic, having an emergency savings fund was the most top of mind financial concern (44%), followed by having health insurance (37%), and then life insurance (31%).

Overall, the survey results show that office workers are generally expecting some changes to office life going forward, and that parents with young children are the most ready to return to work and experience more separation between their personal and professional lives.

Survey methodology: Haven Life conducted a quantitative survey between April 19 –  and April 22, 2021 and collected N=818 completed responses. Respondents were required to be between 22-60 years old and identify as someone who worked in an office building before the pandemic. Fifty-five percent of respondents were female (424) and 45% were male (370). Three-percent of respondents did not specify their gender (24).

About Haven Life
Haven Life Insurance Agency, LLC (Haven Life) is re-thinking how people financially protect the ones they love. Haven Life is committed to delivering exceptional products, delightful purchasing experiences, and meaningful moments of service to the modern life insurance customer.

SOURCE Haven Life