Fuse Insights and Junction Collective have partnered on an omnibus survey talking to 1,000 Canadians about the new world of work

1. Canadians and the
New World of Work
October 2020

2. Base:all respondents (620) 2
2020hasbeenayearofdisruptionacrossmanyspheresofdailylife,notleastin howcompaniesandtheiremployeeswork.To betterunderstandtheimpacton howcompaniesmanagetheiremployees,
andtheirthinkingon hiringthisyearandbeyond,JunctionCollectiveconductedresearchamonghiringmanagersandHRprofessionalsinJune(resultshere).
Theothersideofthecoin isofcourse thedisruptionforemployees,andhowCanadianworkersareadjustingtothechangesinhowandwheretheywork.Soin Octoberweconducteda shortsurvey
amongCanadianworkers;allrespondentstothesurveyareemployed,whetherfull-time,part-timeorself-employed.
• 8outof10respondentswereinfull-timeemploymentatthetimeoftheresearch,withtheremaindersplitfairlyevenlybetween thoseself-employed(9%) andworkingpart-time(10%).
• 52%aremale and48% female.A third(34%) areagedunder35, halfareagedbetween35and54, and16%aged55+.
• Duetothenatureofthesurvey,wedon’thavedataon industryorjoblevel, butpreviousexperiencewouldsuggestrespondentsrepresentagoodmixofeach.
14% 16% 44% 21% 5%
BC Prairies ON QC Atlantic
2%
32%
23%
27%
11%
5%
18-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65-75
Overview

3. 8% 23% 65%Total
Did all my work from home Worked from home at least some of the time Didn't work from home
Q. How much, if at all, did you work from home before COVID-19 and how much have you been working
from home since the start of the pandemic?
Two thirds of Canadians are now working from home in at least some
capacity
Prior to the disruption from COVID-19, a third of Canadians worked from
home at least some of the time; slightly less than 1 in 10 worked from
home all the time.
• Unsurprisingly, self-employed Canadians were much more likely to be
working from home, with 8 out of 10 doing so at least occasionally.
• Among FTEs, 28% worked from home at least some of the time, as
did 16% of part-time employees.
Since the start of the pandemic, the proportion of Canadians working
from home has doubled; two thirds now do so at least some of the time,
and 4 out of 10 currently do all their work from home.
• In total, 69% of FTEs and three quarters of self-employed people are
doing at least some of their work from home at the moment, as are a
third of people in part-time employment.
• Most notably, a third of those who didn’t work from home at all pre-
COVID are now doing all their work from home, and nearly 6 out of
10 are working from home at least some of the time.
Base: all respondents (620)
43%
30%
23%
26%
29%
43%
Total
All who didn't wfh pre-COVID
Pre-COVID
Since the start of COVID
3

4. 3%
6%
5%
8%
9%
13%
11%
24%
11%
12%
17%
21%
24%
25%
27%
33%
36%
51%
44%
45%
40%
35%
41%
28%
50%
31%
34%
26%
27%
27%
20%
15%
Being able to clearly split
work life and home life
Having the right balance of
meetings and actually doing
things
Feeling like part of a team
Collaborating with
colleagues on projects
Having IT/ tech support
Access to office equipment
Socializing/ celebrating with
colleagues
Other benefits e.g. gym,
canteen
Not at all important Not very important Quite important Very important
Q3. Thinking about your job and the time you spend working, how much do you value each of
these in your working life?
When asked what’s important to them in work, half of respondents
said that being able to clearly separate work and home life is very
important to them – and in total 86% said it’s at all important.
In contrast, other elements are regarded more as nice to have:
• 8 out of 10 think a good balance of meetings and time to get work
done is at least somewhat important, but only a third say it’s key,
for example.
• And while three quarters want to feel like part of a team when
working, only a third say it’s essential.
There are some small differences by age:
• Older respondents are slightly less focused on the ability to
separate home and work life: 81% of those aged 55+ said it was
important, compared to 88% of those aged 35 to 54 and 86% of
under-35s.
• Younger respondents are more likely to value socialising with
colleagues (66%, compared to 60% of the over 35s) and other
benefits such as gym or canteen (49%; 42% of 35 to 54 year olds
and 33% of the over 55s).
Work/ life balance is key for most Canadian workers
4

5. 86%
82%
78%
71%
68%
62%
62%
43%
88%
84%
81%
74%
72%
63%
64%
45%
88%
90%
78%
75%
71%
61%
63%
46%
Being able to clearly split
work life and home life
Having the right balance of
meetings and actually doing
things
Feeling like part of a team
Collaborating with
colleagues on projects
Having IT/ tech support
Access to office equipment
Socializing/ celebrating with
colleagues
Other benefits e.g. gym,
canteen
Total
FTEs
All who wfh now
Q3. Thinking about your job and the time you spend working, how much do you value each of
these in your working life? All saying very important/ quite important
People in full-time work are more likely to regard each of these
as important, probably unsurprisingly given that work is a large
part of their lives.
• 88% say being able to clearly separate home life and work life
is quite or very important to them, compared to 78% of part-
time workers and 81% of self-employed people.
• 74% say collaborating with colleagues is quite or very
important to them, and 64% of FTEs see socializing as an
important part of work; among the self-employed, 59% think
collaboration is important and only 48% value socialising with
colleagues in their work.
Included for reference are the number of respondents who now
work from home (at least some of the time) saying each
attribute is important to them in their work. They’re significantly
more likely to mention the right balance of meetings and
working time as being important, but none of the other
differences are statistically significant.
9 out of 10 who wfh say the right balance of meetings and work time
is important
5

6. 30%
35%
35%
28%
22%
25%
35%
12%
11%
13%
13%
6%
3%
7%
7%
11%
12%
17%
Socialising/ celebrating with colleagues
Feeling like part of a team
Collaborating with colleagues on projects
Being able to clearly split work and home life
Learning new skills through your work
Your overall productivity at work
Better than it was Suffered a bit Suffered a lot
6
% saying it’s…
Suffered Important
Q. And with the disruption brought by COVID-19, how much would you say each of these has
suffered in your working life?
65% 61%
46% 78%
46% 71%
41% 86%
35%
31%
Obviously for many people work has changed over the course of 2020
– but notably, only a minority of respondents said that their
productivity has changed (for better or worse). A third said their
productivity is worse since the start of the disruption, while a fifth said
it’s actually improved in that time.
But a majority of Canadians surveyed said that other aspects of their
work have changed.
• In particular, 6 out of 10 said that socialising and celebrating wins
with colleagues is important to them in their work, and two thirds
said it’s suffered since the start of the pandemic.
• Likewise, while three quarters said feeling like part of a team is
important to them, nearly half said they feel less like part of a team
since the disruption started.
• Being able to split home and work life is key to Canadians, and 4 out
of 10 said this has suffered as a result of COVID.
There are some gender differences, with 38% of women and 44% of
men saying their work/ life balance has suffered; and 40% of women
(52% of men) saying collaboration has suffered.
It’s worth noting that among those saying each element is important,
the proportion saying it’s suffered as a result of changes to their work
since the start of the pandemic is slightly (but not significantly) larger
than the total figure:
• 73% of those saying socializing is important say it’s suffered; 52%
saying collaborating is important say it’s suffered in that time.
Socialising and celebrating with colleagues has been the biggest loss
in work this year

7. 65%
46%
46%
41%
35%
31%
74%
54%
54%
50%
37%
31%
75%
56%
58%
51%
38%
31%
Socialising/ celebrating with
colleagues
Feeling like part of a team
Collaborating with
colleagues on projects
Being able to clearly split
work and home life
Learning new skills through
your work
Your overall productivity at
work
Total
Q. And with the disruption brought by COVID-19, how much would you say each of these has
suffered in your working life? All saying suffered a bit/ a lot
For the most part (apart from in their productivity, where people
perhaps aren’t totally objective…), Canadians who work from
home at least some of the time feel each of these shifts more
keenly. For example, a majority of those working from home say
that their collaboration has suffered as a result of the disruption
from COVID-19.
More notably, we’ve also split out respondents currently working
from home who didn’t do so pre-COVID. And here we can really
see the effects of the working shifts.
• Almost 6 out of 10 Canadians who’ve had to switch to working
from home said that collaboration with colleagues has
suffered as a result of their working shifts. A similar
proportion said they don’t feel quite as strongly like they’re
part of a team.
• And just over half said that their ability to clearly separate
home and work life has suffered since shifting to working from
home.
For many who have shifted to working at home, collaboration and work/ life
balance have suffered
7

8. Q16/17. How well do each of these statements reflect your business?
26%
20%
21%
24%
22%
18%
37%
29%
27%
12%
11%
8%
10%
11%
12%
30%
14%
17%
7%
25%
16%
11%
14%
29%
I feel secure in my job
I can do my job just as well at home as in the
office
Given the chance, I'd love to wfh permanently,
after the disruption from COVID-19 has ended
Working life will return to normal after COVID-
19
I'm fed up of video meetings (Zoom, Skype
etc)
I spend too much of my working day in
meetings
Disagree strongly Disagree somewhat Agree somewhat Agree strongly
63% 62%
49% 66%
49% 58%
36% 35%
33% 38%
26% 32%
% agree somewhat/ strongly
Total All who wfh
Despite the disruption of the year so far, two thirds of currently
employed Canadians feel fairly secure in their jobs, and more than a
third feel very secure.
Only half agree that they can be as effective working from home as
in the office, but notably that rises to two thirds of those who
actually work from home at the moment. Still, a third of all
respondents – 19% of those who wfh – disagree with this
statement.
Of those currently working from home, 6 out of 10 would like to do
so permanently – falling slightly to 54% of those who have had to
switch to working from home as a result of the pandemic. 27% of
those currently working from home who weren’t pre-pandemic
disagreed: they’d prefer not to work from home, given the choice.
Zoom fatigue, while not ubiquitous, is definitely a thing, too: a third
of all respondents, nearly 4 out of 10 of those working from home
said they’re fed up of video meetings. And 32% of Canadians
working from home say they’re spending too much of their day in
meetings.
Most feel secure in their jobs; a majority would like to wfh
permanently

9. Summary of
findings
The resultsof theresearchsuggest thattwothirdsof Canadians arenowworkingfrom homeatleastsome of thetime
 Abouthalfhavemadetheswitchtoworkingathome since thestartoftheCOVID-19disruption.
 And twothirdsofthem(ieabout4outof10workers)aredoing alltheirworkfromhome.
To workers,themost importantelementof workis being abletoseparatebetweenwork timeand homelife
 Nearly9outof10consideritimportant;8outof10say it’simportanttohavetherightbalanceoftimeinworkbetween
meetingsandgettingworkdone.
 Collaborationandfeelinglike partofateamarealsokey;socialisingisperhapslessvital,butstill6outof10say it’s an important
partofworkforthem.
To peoplewho’vehadtoswitch toworkingfromhome, collaboration,teamspiritand theabilitytosplit workand home
life havebeenthebig losersin theirwork
 ThreequartersofCanadiansworkingfromhome saidthatthey’vesocialisinglesswithcolleagues,anda majoritysaidtheir
collaborationwithcolleagueshassuffered.
 Giventheimportancetheyplaceonit, thefactthathalfofpeople workingfromhome saidthey’relessable toseparatework and
home lifeshould beaconcern toemployers.
 And fora significantminority,Zoomfatigueisathing:a thirdsay they’respendingtoomuch timein meetingsand4outof 10
arefedup withconstantvideomeetings.
Butthemajoritywouldstill appreciatebeingableto wfh in thefuture
 Despitethesechallenges,twothirdsofCanadianscurrentlyworkingfromhome thinkthey’rejustasable todotheirjobathome
asintheoffice(albeitthata thirddisagree).
 …and6outof10wouldliketoworkfromhome permanently,evenafterthedisruptionfromCOVID-19haspassed.