Lord Rose, former CEO of Marks & Spencer and Asda, has warned that working from home could be causing a generation who are “not doing proper work,” arguing that it is part of the UK economy’s “general decline” and that employee productivity is suffering. His comments come as some UK companies, such as Amazon, Boots, and JP Morgan, are reversing remote working and requiring their head office staff to be present every day.
Employment rights minister Justin Madders, however, has argued that there is mounting evidence that working from home is actually more productive, stating that it is good for growth and companies will have a more motivated workforce. Madders states this will help the UK reach its growth ambitions.
The figures back up both sides of the argument. In a December 2024 UK snapshot survey, 26% of people said they had been hybrid-working, with flexibility to work some days in the office and others at home, while 13% had been fully remote and 41% had been fully office-based. Prof Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University economist, said that while fully remote work could be detrimental to some workers’ productivity, spending three days out of five in the office and two out of five at home had proven to be just as productive as full-time office work overall.
The impact of working from home has impacted local economies significantly as well, with nearly twice as much vacant office space standing since the pandemic, 25% of dry-cleaning businesses shutting down, and golfing increasing 350% during the working week, suggesting people are mixing work and pleasure.
The UK government is currently working to strengthen the right of employees to request working from home. Government bodies are also seeking to get staff to work in the office, arguing that face-to-face interaction is necessary for collaborative working. Hybrid working is becoming a major battleground in the culture wars with Employers battling staff to get them back into the office while the UK government emphasizes workers’ rights to work from home as they please.
Many people believe that flexibility should be a key factor for employees when it comes to choosing their place of work. While some employees see the benefit of working and learning from annually experienced colleagues, others already have childcare responsibilities or even autistic children whose routines are better suited to a flexible working arrangement
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