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Slack's newly launched Future Forum released preliminary data from its Remote Employee Experience Index, which reveals how skilled office workers are adapting to remote work conditions prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Consistent with other recent surveys (see, e.g., here and here), the results show significant support overall for retaining remote working arrangements, notwithstanding certain challenges.

Key takeaways include:

• Only 12% of respondents intend to return to working exclusively from an office; 72% want a combination of office and remote work.
• Respondents cite eliminating commutes, saving money, and improved work-life balance among the top advantages of remote work. Building relationships with colleagues, increased feelings of loneliness or isolation, and not being aware of what others are working are identified as the biggest challenges.

Also consistent with other surveys, the data show that individuals experience remote work differently depending on their particular circumstances:  

The briefing indicates findings of racial disparities in the employee experience — specifically concerning employees' perceptions of managerial support, which we expect will be fleshed out in the full report released later this year.

The Index is based on a survey conducted by GlobalWebIndex of 9,032 knowledge workers who identify as “skilled office workers” in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Japan and Australia.