Survey reveals what different generations want from the workplace

Prior to the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, many office workers didn’t have the opportunity to work from home. However, the time they spent working remotely during the lockdowns has left many considering which style of working is right for them, and what factors their employers should be putting into place to both entice employees back into the workplace, and assist their staff with the ongoing cost of living and energy crises.

More employees than ever before have now formed concrete ideas of what they expect from their workplace, but is there a difference in workplace expectations between different generations?

To find out more about generational expectations in the workplace, Moneypenny conducted a survey of 1,000 UK office workers over the age of 18, to find out what they value most in an employer and how many are having their expectations met – whilst also determining which factors are the most important to different generations.

First, the office workers were asked which style of working most appealed to them;

Hybrid working (31%)

Full-time in the office (19%)

Working from home (19%)

Flexible working (17%)

4-day working week (13%)

Hybrid working was the most popular working style (31%), with the majority of supporters for this format coming from Xennials (35%), Millennials (34%), and Generation X (31%). In contrast, 19% of those surveyed preferred working full-time in the office. Baby boomers tended to lean more towards office working (27%), alongside 23% of Gen Z’ers.

Surprisingly, working from home wasn’t as popular as expected, with just 19% of respondents preferring this work style – making it tied with office-working for second-place. Amongst those that preferred working remotely, the majority were Xennials (25%) and Millennials (21%).

Flexible working was most-favoured by baby boomers (19%), whilst a 4-day working week was preferred by Generation X (16%) and Gen Z (15%).

Moneypenny then asked the office workers which free help from their employer they would welcome the most, and whether they were currently able to access any free help.

The 5 most-welcomed types of free help from employers were:

Discounts on supermarkets, leisure activities, etc. (52%)

Cashback scheme (31%)

Company car (30%)

Gym membership (30%)

Financial advice (16%)

An overwhelming majority said they would welcome discounts from their employer (52%), with around half of respondents from each generation supporting this form of assistance. Cashback schemes were another popular choice (31%), favoured primarily by Xennials (37%), Generation X (34%), and Millennials (34%).

With fuel prices continuing to fluctuate, a company car was a popular form of assistance from employers (30%). The majority of respondents in favour of this were baby boomers (37%). Gym memberships proved equally popular (30%), with the most support coming from Millennials (34%) and Gen Z (32%).

Financial advice was favoured by a much smaller 16% of respondents, with the majority being Gen Z (25%).

In terms of how many office workers had access to these forms of assistance, the results were disappointing:

50% do not receive any free help

Discounts on supermarkets, leisure activities, etc. (26%)

Financial advice (12%)

Gym membership (10%)

Cashback scheme (9%)

50% of the respondents said that they were not in receipt of any free help from their employer currently, and just half of workers were in receipt of discounts (26%) that wanted them (52%).

The survey asked respondents which on-site facilities would be most important to them when working in the office.

The 5 most important on-site facilities were:

Free car parking (47%)

Free restaurant for lunch (45%)

Free transportation to/from the office (26%)

Latest technology (19%)

Gardens/green spaces at work (18%)

The majority of respondents favoured free parking (47%), with the most respondents being baby boomers (59%) and Xennials (50%). Free restaurants for employee lunches were another popular choice (45%), with just under half of respondents from all generations supporting access to free meals on-site.

Free transportation to/from the office was backed by 26% of respondents, with most being Gen Z (32%). In contrast, 19% of office workers wanted an office full of the latest technology, with the majority of respondents coming from Generation X (27%) and the baby boomer generation (22%). Gardens and green spaces were less popular at 18%, and were backed primarily by Xennials (21%).