Young UK managers want pay raise, free lunch to return to office: Survey

Younger U.K. managers are looking for a pay raise and free lunches to entice them back to the office full-time, a new survey has found.

Half of managers (49%) aged under 35 said they would want a salary increase to work on site five days a week, according to a survey by the U.K.’s Chartered Management Institute.

That compares to similar salary demands from nearly one-third (29%) of managers aged 35-54 and one-fifth (19%) of those aged over 55.

The majority (55%) would be seeking a pay raise of 1-10%, while two-fifths (43%) said they would expect more than that.

Younger managers were also more likely to be drawn back to the office by office benefits such as free lunches and travel subsidies, with 42% hankering after such incentives.

Overall, however, flexible hours were the strongest incentive for U.K. managers to return to the office full-time, with 40% of all managers seeking such flexibility.

One in 10 (13%) U.K. managers said nothing would sweeten the deal for them to return to the office full-time.

The findings are based on a survey of 1,035 managers across the country, two-thirds (68%) of whom reported working within large organizations.

Over half of managers (53%) reported currently working from home between one and four days in the average week, while one-quarter (26%) said they work in the office full-time.

That proportion skewed when differentiating between public and private sector managers, with those in the private sector more likely to report working on-site five days a week.

On a company size basis, those at large organizations were more likely than those in small- and medium-sized businesses to report working from home between one and four days a week (59% versus 36%).

Meantime, those currently earning lower wages said they were more likely to be expected to attend the office full-time, the survey found.

One-third (36%) of managers earning less than £50,000 ($64,000) annually said they work from the office five days a week, compared to one-fifth (22%) of those earning £50,000 to £74,999 and one in 10 (12%) earning £75,000 or more.