An Irreversible Change?

The survey of 1046 employers conducted by CIPD showed that, overall, employees were as productive working from home as other non-home working employees. Peter Cheese, CEO of CIPD said, “The pandemic is going to have a long-lasting effect on how we work, with a step-change in the proportion of people who work from home on a much more regular basis”.

The benefits to employees and employers are considerable,

“Organisations will be able to hire people from a much wider geographic area. Greater use of home working will make work more accessible and sustainable for all, whilst encouraging employers to recruit and retain a more diverse workforce”.

Interestingly though, when it comes to returning to the office opinions differ. In a survey carried out by Walker Morris and Leeds University Business School, it was found that 31% of workers between the ages of 18-24 said they wanted to spend at least 80% of their time in the office to maximise opportunities for development and training and for collaboration with colleagues. In contrast, 31% of those aged between 30-34 confirmed that they wanted to spend less than 18% of their time in the office.

It’s fair to say that the continued requirement for office space is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future, however, flexible working arrangements, which include remote working opportunities are likely to remain in place for many organisations. “It’s important for business leaders to recognise the need to adapt to the changes flexible working will bring, particularly in relation to maximising great efficiency across their built environment.”