Canadians feeling ‘uncertain’ about the future of their workplace amid COVID-19: poll

As 2021 comes to an end, many Canadians' have over the past year expressed a desire to continue working remotely from their homes or out of the office.

Canadians are feeling uncertain about the future of their workplace, with half of employees working from home saying that they expect to regularly return to the office in 2022, according to a new poll.

And while there doesn’t seem to be a clear consensus on whether a return to the office is guaranteed for the majority of those currently working from home, a growing majority is now beginning to show a preference in where — and how — they want to work.

The poll, conducted by Ipsos exclusively or Global News, revealed working Canadians’ experiences in 2021, and what their expectations were for the new year “given the ever-shifting context” of COVID-19 in Canada.

While half of Canadians expect to either return to the office — and the other half expect to continue working from home — the majority, or about 64 per cent claim, say they achieved a better work-life balance in 2021.

Darrell Bricker, Ipsos’ CEO of Public Affairs, said that while there has been a consistent number of Canadians expressing reluctance at wanting to go back to their office, their reasoning behind not wanting to do so may have changed somewhat.

“Part of it seems to be concern about safety, but an increasing part of it — and this is the really interesting finding here — is about a preference,” said Bricker.

“It’s no longer about ‘I’m not going to go back to the office because I don’t think it’s safe.’ It’s ‘I’m not going to go back to the office because I feel like I actually prefer to work at home.'”

The poll also found that nearly nine out of ten Canadians enjoyed working from home in 2021, and that 58 per cent said they missed being with their colleagues in person.