As organizations consider recalling workers back to the office, many are finding resistance – and in some cases, open revolt . Employees have become accustomed to the work-from-home (WFH) lifestyle and they aren’t necessarily willing to trade it for commutes and cubicles. Most want the choice of whether to stay home, return to the office or a combination of both, and many cybersecurity professionals are among them.

A new (ISC)² member poll looks at how organizations are changing remote work policies in 2022 and what it means for worker satisfaction. The poll found the most satisfied cybersecurity professionals have the choice of where to work, and the least satisfied are those being forced back into the office. While choice rules, working remotely still trumps going back to the office, according to the poll.

(ISC)² collected responses from 416 cybersecurity professionals around the world in June 2022. 57% of respondents who in the past were in the office some or all of the time said their job satisfaction increased when offered the option of working remotely. Also experiencing a boost in satisfaction were 45% of respondents who had spent most or all their time in the office but are now required to work remotely. 47% of participants who formerly worked remotely and are now required to be in the office full-time said that this change has decreased their job satisfaction.

The number of cybersecurity professionals responding to our poll who work completely remote decreased from 44% in 2021 to 33% in 2022, with 58% of them reporting that their employer changed remote work policies this year.

What has changed? 29% of participants reported that they were mostly or fully remote and are now required to be in the office full or part-time. Of those whose employers have moved to in-office requirements, 24% are now required to be in the office part-time and 5% are required to be in the office full-time. 20% said they had been mostly or fully in-office and are now able to work remotely by choice or requirement. Of those whose employers moved from the office to remote, 17% can work remotely if they choose while 3% are required to work remotely. 39% said their employer has not changed any remote work policies in the past year.

Cybersecurity Professionals Want Choice

Poll results indicate that remote work preferences among cybersecurity professionals are in line with the workforce at large. For instance, 35% of respondents in a new McKinsey survey say they have the option of working from home five days a week. This compares to 33% in the (ISC)² poll. McKinsey also found that when given the choice of working remotely at least some of the time, 87% take it.

Choice is the prevailing theme. When companies have tried to mandate workers to return to the office, it hasn’t always gone well. At Apple, for instance, employees wrote a strongly worded open letter to the company saying they didn’t want to return to the office. “Stop treating us like school kids,” the letter said. “Stop trying to control how often you can see us.” Subsequently, the company lifted a requirement for workers to spend at least three days weekly in the office.

Cybersecurity leaders considering recalling teams to the office need to take note. 18% of poll respondents said they would look for a new job if they were directed to return to work mostly or fully in the office and 33% were unsure. About half (49%) said a change in remote work policy would not drive them to look for a new job.

The poll suggests that the risk of losing cybersecurity professionals due to changing remote work policies shouldn’t be ignored. Intentions to change jobs become even more clear for professionals who are experiencing these remote work policy changes. Those who had been working remotely and are now required to be in an office part-time have the highest intentions of seeking a new job (26%) followed by those who were remote and are now required to be in an office full-time (21%).

Additionally, poll participants feel secure in their jobs, with 65% saying they are not worried that employers will outsource their jobs due to remote work.

Some Choose the Office

We also asked participants if they prefer to work in an office, some or all of the time, and why. Half indicated social interaction was a key motivator for working in the office and nearly one-third (30%) like the work/life delineation in-office work provides (separating work and home). 14% said the office is quieter with fewer distractions; 11% indicated other reasons including access to office technology or equipment and more effective collaboration opportunities in person (brainstorming, whiteboarding, meetings); and 10% feel in-office is more secure.

Still, over one-third (35%) indicated they prefer to work remotely 100% of the time, nearly matching the percentage (34%) that indicated they want to work remotely 100% of the time.

Choice = Higher Satisfaction

Broadly speaking, workers currently are in the driver’s seat and hold a lot of influence over their employers’ decisions to return to the office, but this may change. Predictions of a looming recession have been multiplying. For the time being, security leaders should take note that cybersecurity teams that are provided with a choice of where to work are citing the highest levels of job satisfaction and the lowest intent to look for another job because of WFH policies. In today’s highly competitive market for cybersecurity talent, many cybersecurity professionals have discovered that in addition to being effective and efficient working remotely, they like working from home.