German companies to keep home office options, with some expanding

Home office has firmly established itself in the German work environment, with only a small fraction of companies planning to eliminate it. In fact, some companies aim to make these arrangements even more flexible.

According to a survey published by the Munich-based Ifo Institute on Tuesday, a large majority of German companies intend to continue offering home office options. Only four percent of companies plan to completely abolish working from home. Twelve percent are considering stricter regulations, while three out of four companies where home office is an option wish to maintain the current arrangements.

“These results contradict the notion that the trend is moving back to the office,” said Ifo researcher Jean-Victor Alipour. “Public reporting focuses on individual companies reducing home office, which exaggerates the actual trend,” he added. Eleven percent of firms are planning to further flexibilize their home office policies.

Home office available in four out of five companies

In 79 percent of companies, working from home is generally feasible. This is significantly more common in large companies (93 percent) compared to small and medium-sized enterprises (75 percent). There are also variations across different economic sectors: while 82 percent of service providers and 89 percent of industrial companies can offer home office, only 40 percent of construction and trade companies can do so. Across all sectors, only a minority plan to restrict or eliminate home office options.

“It is undeniable that in-person work has advantages over home office in some aspects,” said Ifo expert Alipour. “Stricter rules through better coordination of in-person work times can make home office overall more productive.”

Thirteen percent of service providers and eight percent of industrial firms plan to introduce more flexible home office arrangements. “Home office is and will remain firmly established in Germany,” Alipour concluded. “Things are not reverting to 2019.” The COVID-19 pandemic that followed has solidified remote work in many businesses.