Wednesday is the most popular day of the week for employees to work from the office, according to research from Dublin Chamber and Savills Ireland.

Employers recorded an average occupancy rate of 61-70% on Wednesdays, ahead of Tuesdays and Thursdays (both 51-60%), while Mondays and Fridays are the least popular days by a wide margin, recording average attendance of 10% or lower.

A survey of remote and hybrid working practices across 500 Dublin office-based business shows that half of employers require workers to be present in the office for two or three days a week.

Recruitment and retention of staff was given as a reason for offering remote, hybrid or flexible working by 73% of companies. Other popular reasons include improved company morale (44%), suiting businesses' needs (36%), improved productivity (20%) and reduced costs (15%).

Three in four companies (75%) said their main concern around remote and hybrid working was that it made it more difficult for them to cultivate a positive team culture.

In Association with

More than three in five said their main worry was the remote/hybrid working arrangements made onboarding new staff harder (62%), and three in five said their main concern was staff isolation or mental health (60%).

Other widely shared concerns of remote and hybrid working included the difficulty of collaboration between remote and in-person teams (52%) and managing remote and in-person teams (41%).

Furthermore, despite most companies offering remote and hybrid working arrangements, the majority (76%) surveyed have not changed the size of their office footprint, compared to 17% that have reduced it and 7% that have increased it.

More than four in five firms note in-person engagement with colleagues as a top driver in encouraging employees to return to work onsite (85%), followed by fringe benefits such as meeting with friends after work, shopping or attending events (40%), virtual meeting fatigue (39%), employer policy (24%), and presenteeism (22%).

“While there has been a gradual return to the office in recent times, remote and hybrid working remain a feature of the current working landscape. This has its advantages, particularly its ability to open up opportunities in the workforce for those who may have struggled to participate in it before," said Mary Rose Burke, CEO of Dublin Chamber.

“However, high employee expectations around hybrid and remote working have put pressure on many employers to continue offering remote and hybrid working options – despite the potential misalignment with operational demands and the reduced urgency and dependency on such practices as initially necessitated by Covid-19.

"This has led to challenges such as loss of company culture, individualistic, rather than team-based, approaches to working, digital presenteeism, and several firms facing difficulties training new recruits, as senior members of staff increasingly choose to work from home, contributing to a loss of on-the-job, experiential learning.”

The research also uncovered widespread apprehension of the new legislation on the right to request remote work, which is currently before the Seanad and due to be finalised shortly.

Many companies are concerned about the administrative and HR burden which might arise from this new legislation.

Commenting on the research, Andrew Cunningham, director and head of offices at Savills Ireland, said: “Though there has been a shift to remote working, companies continue to offer the office element for a variety of reasons and employees continue to desire it.

"This survey sheds some light on the whys. Human contact is one of the main reasons employees wish to return to the office, according to the research."

He continued: “The research highlights the importance of a well-located office space – given that so many are motivated to return to the office to meet friends, shop or attend events – and this can be seen in the official take-up figures.

"For example, of the 242,800 sqm. of deals in 2022, 79% occurred in the traditional central business district (CBD).

“Remote, hybrid and flexible working is now commonplace in most industries, however, the office will continue to be the epicentre of business activity and a hub for learning, collaboration, and collegiality – no business can survive without this”.