WHAT THE DATA SAY: Free food, drinks, subsidized commuting could draw employees back to the office

By: Ray Day

CONTACT:

Ray Day
ray.day@stagwellglobal.com 

We wanted to share our latest consumer and business insights, based on research from The Harris Poll, a Stagwell agency.

ECONOMIC WORRIES MIXED:

Today, 86% of Americans are concerned about the economy and inflation – down 2 points from last week and up from 82% in December.

• 83% worry about a potential U.S. recession (up 1 point)
• 80% about U.S. crime rates (no change)
• 71% about political divisiveness (down 1 point)
• 71% about affording their living expenses (down 3 points)
• 68% about the War on Ukraine (up 3 points)
• 60% about a new COVID-19 variant (up 1 point)

HALF OF GEN Z SEARCH THE WEB VERSUS CALLING A DOCTOR:

More Americans know their astrology sign (66%) and credit score (58%) than their blood type (51%) or cholesterol level (20%), according to our survey with Quest Diagnostics.

• Even fewer younger Americans know their blood type (Gen Z: 32%, Millennials: 47%).
• Younger Americans also are relying on the internet for health information. While the majority of Americans (63%) receive health advice from healthcare professionals, only 44% of Gen Z do the same. Instead, more than half of Gen Z (52%) utilize internet searches.
• Additionally, more than one in five Americans (22%) receive health advice from social media influencers, especially Gen Z (40%) and Millennials (39%) versus Gen X (18%) and Boomers (3%).

FREE FOOD, SUBSIDIZED COMMUTING COULD BRING WORKERS BACK TO OFFICE:

What will entice employees back to the office? It seems that free meals (63%), free beverages and snacks (58%), and subsidized commuting (46%) – especially for workers outside the U.S. – will go a long way. That said, remote working isn’t a novelty anymore. Flexibility has become a baseline expectation for many employees, according to Stagwell’s National Research Group’s new “2023: Understanding the new world of work report.”

• We surveyed more than 4,000 people in the United States, UK, Germany and Japan to explore how workers around the world have been navigating and adapting – and what that means for businesses that want to make a flexible world work for them, their users and their staff.
• Only 11% of respondents said they prefer working in an office full-time.
• Yet 60% have experienced issues staying engaged while working from home, and 50% have experienced a home technical issue – with tech issues growing since the start of COVID.
• Employees are hungry for new at-home tech, including hands-free screens (69%), interactive learning/skills development (66%), virtual assistants (59%), and 3D object identification and training (52%).

AMERICANS LOOK LOCALLY TO SOLVE HOMELESSNESS:

Americans believe it’s up to local governments to fix homelessness, based on our survey with Grid.

• 42% believe local governments should lead in addressing homelessness, followed by state government (26%), federal (14%), private sector (11%) and individuals (7%).
• Yet, when asked how they expected homelessness to evolve in their area in the next five years, only 17% said it would get better, 41% said it would stay about the same – with rural Americans (34% say things will get worse) having the bleakest outlook.

ICYMI:

In case you missed it, check out some of the thought-leadership and happenings around Stagwell making news:

• Documents, Debt Ceilings and Crypto Regulation: January 2023 Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll
• Stagwell’s Experts Weigh In: Will A.I. Transform Marketing?
• The Tech Powering New Sports Marketing Opportunities in 2023
• Home Shoppers to Face High Rates, Economy With Resolve
• New Study Shows Working Parents in U.S. Expect More Employer, Government Support for Child Care

As always, if helpful, we would be happy to provide more info on any of these data or insights. Please do not hesitate to reach out.

Thank you.