As more than two in five UK employees are interested in bringing their furry friend into the office, Compare The Market has revealed the UK’s top 5 most dog-friendly industries to work in
New research by Compare The Market has revealed the UK’s top dog-friendly industries, as well as the workplace policies businesses have in place regarding dogs in the office.
With more than two in five UK employees (42%) looking to bring their pooch to work, there’s a clear interest in having our furry friends join us while we work. In fact, nearly half of UK employees (44%) would rather have dogs in the office than small children.
Read more: 5 tips on creating a dog-friendly workplace
For those curious to find out where their industry stands, or hoping to enquire about a dog policy, below are the top five industries most likely to allow dogs in the office:
- Creative arts and design (47.2%)
- Marketing, advertising, and PR (46.7%)
- Media and internet (42.9%)
- Environment and agriculture (40%)
- Law (38.1%)
It comes as no surprise that creative arts and design along with marketing, advertising, and PR are within the top five industries. However, what is potentially surprising is law coming in fifth.
Of course, allowing pets in the workplace means having certain policies in place which must be adhered to, with the most common being that dogs must be fully trained before being allowed in the workplace (43%). Furthermore, it would appear that employers believe balance is key as over a quarter (27%) say that they only allow employees to bring in their four-legged friends on certain days of the week.
Read more: 7 tips for supporting employee wellbeing during the return to work
Currently, less than three in ten employees (29%) are allowed to have dogs in the office. When asked why they weren’t allowed, the top reasons given were that some are too much hassle or maintenance throughout the day (41%), while other people found them too distracting (39%), or office buildings won’t permit them (39%).
Moreover, businesses have to consider their employee’s health and wellbeing when implementing changes at their workplace, which is why 31% shared that they don’t allow dogs in the office due to allergies.
“Our research suggests many pet owners are looking to bring their dogs into the office, which doesn’t come as too much of a surprise as over the last year, our pets have gotten used to us working from home and we’ve gotten used to having them around”, comments Mubina Pirmohamed, pet expert at Compare The Market.
“As restrictions begin to ease and people return to the office, businesses might take a look at the policies they have in place and see if there’s a way they can make the workplace more dog–friendly”.
Image by Drew Hays, Unsplash
