More Belgian firms expect staff back in the office

More companies in Belgium are tightening their rules on working from home. A new survey by HR services provider Acerta shows that one in six businesses now expects employees to work from the office at least four days a week.

The survey, which questioned 600 companies and more than 2,000 workers, found that 16.6% of firms require staff to be in the office most of the week. A year ago, that figure was 11%.

Despite the shift, working from home has not disappeared. Around nine in ten Belgian companies still allow some form of remote work, and most say they are satisfied with the current balance between home and office working.

However, many businesses are setting stricter rules. The share of companies that fix specific office days for staff has risen from 8.2% to 13.4% in the past year. Tuesday and Thursday remain the most common days for employees to come in.

According to Acerta labour market expert Ellen Van Grunderbeek, remote work is not available to everyone. Many organisations only allow it for suitable roles, while workers in operational or on-site jobs must still be physically present.

The survey shows that nine out of ten manual workers cannot work from home, while this falls to four in ten for office staff.

^{© BELGA PHOTO LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ}