Despite ‘hybrid’ being the buzz word of 2021, a surprising 1 in 4 workers are planning a full return to the office, according to the new 2021 Commuting Report from ClassPass, an app that brings together the world’s best fitness and wellness experiences.
The ClassPass Commuting Report explores the evolving commuting and physical fitness behaviors of 1,245 professionals as offices have started to reopen. The survey was conducted in October 2021 by ClassPass.
Hybrid work is the most common work schedule in 2021, with 50% of professionals going into the office at least one day a week. The majority of these professionals noted that they feel more stress when working from an office, and use high intensity exercise such as boxing or HIIT to relieve those stressful feelings.
Even if they aren’t hybrid yet, some professionals are hoping to pivot to that work model. The survey showed that 20% of professionals who are currently remote plan to return to an office part-time in the next six months.
The survey also found that 1 in 5 people have relocated, likely impacting the decision for 30% of professionals who plan to stay permanently remote. Since the start of the pandemic, 17% of ClassPass members permanently moved to a new city, 5% permanently moved to the suburbs, and 7% temporarily moved but have since returned to their original home base.
“The future of work includes hybrid work environments and a distributed workforce. There has been a massive shift from the traditional five day workweek with 94% of commuting professionals working three days or less in an office, and 30% of professionals planning to stay permanently remote,” says Bob Hamer, Head of Corporate Programs at ClassPass. “This shift to hybrid work has also changed the way professionals workout.”
The 2020 wellness and fitness trends report indicated that 12 p.m. was the most popular workout time, while people hunkered down in their home offices. But new data suggests that morning and evening workouts have returned. Out of those professionals working out on office days, 39% of professionals are stopping by gyms and fitness studios on the way in, 57% are stopping by gyms on the way home from the office and only 4% are leaving the office midday for a workout. That is compared to the 15% of people still using lunchtime for a workout on the days they work from home.
On commuting days, professionals are 2.5x as likely to visit a gym they have been to before. Professionals are taking advantage of the opportunity to visit a favorite pre-pandemic gym or take a class with their preferred instructor.
On days they work from home, professionals are twice as likely to try out a new studio or fitness class - the perfect break after working in a home office all day. Now that things have reopened in most cities, people are venturing out and exploring local businesses that may be new to them if they relocated during the past two years.
People are also twice as likely to workout using digital options such as on-demand or livestream classes on the days they work from home.
Whatever your work schedule, professionals continue to stay dedicated to their fitness routines. Over 70% of professionals are dropping by fitness studios on the days they work from home, and 64% are dropping by fitness studios on the days they commute to an office.
The ClassPass Commuting Report was conducted by ClassPass in October 2021 and received responses from 1,245 professionals from 6 countries including Australia, Austria, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.