There has been a shift in workers’ attitude towards going to the office; while they used to feel obliged to physically be in the office, 78 per cent of Indian professionals say they now do it by choice, reveals a recent report from the professional networking platform LinkedIn.
Workers are generally more receptive to working in the office, with 86 per cent of Indians saying they feel optimistic about it compared to a year ago.
Another trend embraced in the office is desk bombing. Desk bombing is when a co-worker shows up unannounced at their desk to chat. 62 per cent believe desk bombing is a great way to have impromptu conversations. Most GenZ workers in India (60 per cent) have experienced desk bombing and found it helpful.
Office time and its impact on career
LinkedIn research revealed that 63 per cent of Indians feel working remotely has no harmful impact on their careers. However, a similar proportion also believes their chances of career growth could be reduced if they didn’t go to the office as much. This could be a potential reason why 71 per cent of Indians agree that they feel they have to overcompensate when working from home to show that they are serious about work.
Loud Leaving is helping build a better work-life balance
Workers are more conscious about balancing their time between work and life priorities, and managers are pioneering new ways to do this. 60 per cent of professionals in India say that they have experienced Loud Leaving, which means when managers visibly leave the workplace, making it known that it’s okay to shut down and stop working at a reasonable time.
Surprisingly 79 per cent of Indians say Thursday is the new Friday which may be conceived as the fact that Friday is the least popular day for workers to go into the office. 50 per cent of the employees say they would spend more time with family and friends on Fridays, while 46 per cent would try to focus on finishing the week’s work quickly on Fridays and hop into an early weekend.
Social interactions matter at work
Workers are choosing to head into the office to socialise, bond and be part of a team.
| Reason to go to Office | Percentage of Employees |
| Social interactions | 43% |
| For having more efficient face-to-face meetings with co-workers | 42% |
| Building work relationships | 41% |
72 per cent of workers said they miss chai break bonding in the workplace.
On the report launch, Nirajita Banerjee, Managing Editor in India for LinkedIn, said, “We’re starting to see a shift in attitude when it comes to working in the office. While professionals in India favour the flexible-work option, they are also finding immense value in heading back to office as it contributes towards boosting employee morale, improving collaboration and teamwork and identifying new opportunities.”
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