The attractiveness of home office as an employee benefit in the Czech labor market

The diploma thesis examines the appeal of working from home as an employee benefit in the Czech labor market. The objective of the study is twofold: to determine the trend in the attractiveness of home office over time and to assess the current perception of this benefit among employees and job applicants. The research is divided into two periods: the period of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic and the present. The following hypotheses were formulated: (1) employees desire a greater degree of work from home than their current offer, (2) home office is the most attractive type of employee benefit, (3) the absence of home office benefit adversely affects applicants' job acceptance decisions, and (4) employees or job applicants would accept a lower salary for a higher proportion of home office. The partial objective is to identify the employee and job applicant profiles and the fields of work with the greatest potential for offering or expanding home office. The methodology consists of quantitative research utilizing the CAWI method, and comparison of the results from the two periods. Three of the four hypotheses were rejected. The research revealed that 2/3 of the respondents prefer the current proportion of work from home to be maintained, whereas only 1/4 wish to expand it. Although working from home is among the top five employee benefits, it is not the most attractive. Roughly 2/3 of the respondents would rather not or definitely not accept a job offer without the possibility of working from home. More than 70% of the respondents would rather not or definitely not agree to a lower wage for additional offer of home office. Therefore, employers are advised not to reduce wages across the board for the additional offer of home office. Instead, they should maintain the current proportion of home office for 2/3 of their employees and rather increase it for the remaining third.