Two thirds of employees do not expect permanent office return

HP the most-owned brand among home workers, according to report by Quocirca

More than two-thirds of employees do not expect to return to the office on a full-time basis, according to research from Quocirca.

The industry analyst surveyed 455 employees in the UK and US on their attitudes to hybrid working and revealed that 70 per cent of respondents expect to work fully or partly from home from now on.

Of this 70 per cent, 18 per cent expect to work entirely from home, while 52 per cent anticipate working flexibly between the home and office.

Under half of those surveyed have upgraded their home printer since they began working remotely, while 22 per cent have purchased a new printer in the past year, with HP the favoured brand among home workers.

"As home working has become embedded, employees are now upgrading their home office technology. With few employers providing home office hardware, these purchases constitute shadow IT and may introduce unmanaged security risk," stated Louella Fernandes, director at Quocirca.

"Businesses should now be focusing on providing authorised home office hardware to help employees stay productive and secure. This represents an opportunity for print vendors and the channel to incorporate devices and support for home workers into managed print services."

Elsewhere the study revealed that 87 per cent of formerly office-based workers say they are equally or more productive working remotely, over half of respondents stated that they are concerned about information security when using their home printer, while only 47 per cent have received training on document security.

This concern was higher among US respondents with 61 per cent reporting concern compared to 40 per cent of UK respondents. US organisations have also put more security measures in place compared to their UK counterparts.

Low running costs, high reliability and easy maintenance are the most important features for employees when buying a new device. The top feature missed about office printing is speed, which Quocirca stated was indicative of home devices being used as a "stop-gap" and are not meeting longer-term home office needs.

"Brands that have a strong consumer offering have an obvious initial advantage in the home office market but, as home working becomes permanent, we will see purchasers looking for performance more typical of office devices - particularly speed and multifunctionality," Fernandes added.

"This offers brands with a strong heritage in the office market an opportunity to draw on that reputation to offer devices that have the features workers need, combined with the security, visibility and management capabilities needed by their employers."