'The DNA of work has changed': Many Americans want to keep working from home after the COVID-19 crisis passes
![Forty percent of Americans prefer to work from home full-time, compared with 35% who seek a home-office hybrid and 25% who want to go back to the office full-time, according to a Harris Poll survey.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.usatoday.com/gcdn/media/2021/05/11/USATODAY/usatsports/person-works-from-home.jpg?width=980&height=654&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
![Portrait of Paul Davidson](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.usatoday.com/gcdn/media/2019/03/13/USATODAY/USATODAY/636880765210118832-Paul-Davidson.jpg?crop=600,600,x0,y0&width=48&height=48&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
With the COVID-19 pandemic waning, a hybrid model that allows employees to work from home part-time seemed to be gaining favor among companies and workers.
But a plurality of employees recently surveyed are effectively saying that if they want a change of scenery, they’ll pick up their laptops and amble from the living room to the den.
Forty percent of Americans prefer to work from home full-time, compared with 35% who seek a home-office hybrid and 25% who want to go back to the office full-time, according to a Harris Poll survey of 2,063 adults May 14-16. The results were provided exclusively to USA TODAY.
Workers cite a variety of concerns about going back to the office, including losing the flexibility they’ve enjoyed while teleworking, getting back to their pre-pandemic routines, health worries and having to make small talk again with co-workers.