A report from Rover.com titled The Future of Work: Dog Friendly Companies shows how increased rates of dog adoptions during the pandemic are affecting pet parents’ willingness to return to the office. Rover is the world’s largest online marketplace for finding pet care. The report surveyed 1,000 US-based dog parents in May 2022. Many results show that people want to work for companies that have pet-friendly policies.
What are pet-friendly policies?
There key areas of concern and things pet parents would like to see in a pet-friendly benefits package. These include employee loyalty, recruitment, separation anxiety, and advocacy for additional benefits. An astonishing 80% of pet parents who welcomed home a new dog during the pandemic are willing to leave their current job for a more dog-friendly company. More than half agree the ability to bring their dog to the office is an important factor when looking for a new job. For companies trying to entice workers back into the office, pet parents said the top motivator would be being able to bring their dog – more than catered lunches, free snacks, fast internet and other in-person perks.
Related: Fur-baby boom? 7 in 10 Gen Z adults would rather have pets than kids
“With millions of pets welcomed into our families over the last couple of years, it’s understandable that folks are genuinely concerned about returning to the office and what that means for their pets—from separation anxiety to finding pet care they can rely on,” said Kate Jaffe, Trend Expert at Rover. “Employers that are struggling to recruit, retain and convince employees to shift away from remote work need to understand that our pets are true members of our families—and there’s strong evidence that companies can effectively leverage dog-friendly policies.”
Top findings from the report
Dog-friendly workplaces drive employee loyalty
- 74% of pet parents are more likely to feel loyalty toward a dog-friendly company.
- A majority of respondents (59%) rate bringing their dogs to work as a better motivator to return to office than free snacks, faster internet, or catered lunches.
- However, more than half (58%) of pet parents would leave their job to work for a more dog-friendly company.
- 29% of pet parents said they quit or changed jobs during the pandemic because of their dog. That number jumps to 36% for pet parents who welcomed home a new dog during the pandemic.
Concerns over separation anxiety keep pet parents home
- The #1 reason dog parents are worried about returning to the office is their pet’s potential anxiety or loneliness. This is most true for the 58% of pet parents who welcomed a dog home during the pandemic, 45% of whom are worried about their own anxiety.
- 53% of pet parents are worried about their dog’s behavior at home while they’re away at work.
Pet parenthood empowers employees to request pet-friendly benefits
- Compared to pre-pandemic, 37% of pet parents feel more empowered to request or demand in-office policy changes including those related to pets.
- This is even higher for both new pet parents who welcomed home a dog during the pandemic (42%) and for Gen Z employees (43%).
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