Advertisement

New study finds gaps between Ontario employers’ and employees’ expectations

A survey published Thursday found that there is a gap between what Ontario employers plans are for working from home as opposed to what an employee’s preferences are. Getty Images

A survey published Thursday found that there is a gap between what Ontario employers’ plans are for working from home as opposed to what employees’ preferences are.

The Hybrid Work Study, which was conducted for Cisco Canada by Angus Reid, found that 73 per cent of Ontario companies have plans to return or are currently have a plan in place which requires a mandatory number of days in office.

The study found that 84 per cent of employees prefer to have a more flexible choice in work location and hours.

In addition, the study found that employers in Ontario are twice as likely (69 per cent) to ask their charges to come to the office as the rest of Canada (39 per cent).

Read more: Ontario resilient enough to weather possible recession, finance minister says

Story continues below advertisement

Cisco Canada says that the results show that the setup that workers would prefer is evolving and Ontario bosses are not following suit.

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“They’ll need to address this gap to create a culture that empowers employees and encourages them to thrive and retain top talent,” a release from the company reads.

The study found other key differences between employers’ expectations and that of other areas of the country, including the assumption that staff would be willing to move closer to work rather than commute.

In Ontario, 43 per cent of those surveyed believed this was the case, which is well above western Canada (18 per cent) and Quebec (9 per cent).

Read more: Interest rates chill Canada’s housing market in January as sales hit 14-year low

In addition, employers in Ontario were above the national average in holding a belief that having staff at the office would promote engagement in corporate culture (52 per cent vs 46 per cent) while they also believed there would be more opportunities for career growth (43 per cent vs 38 per cent).

From the employees’ end, while cost of living has mushroomed over the past year due to spiking inflation, just 37 per cent of workers have seen companies step up to help them deal with it.

Story continues below advertisement

That number comes as 68 per cent of employers say they have done so.

Click to play video: '2023 Employee Concerns'
2023 Employee Concerns

Sponsored content

AdChoices