Home working will not impact on much-needed jobs: Agency head

“We would expect staff in Dundee to be able to work from home. DAVID WALLACE

The head of Scotland’s social security agency has pledged the drive towards home working will not deprive the city region of much-needed high-value jobs.

David Wallace, Social Security Scotland chief executive, said his agency is likely to move to a blended working model, with a strong focus on “drawing people in” to its new Dundee base.

There is concern more home working among Scottish Government civil servants, who are mostly based in the Central Belt, could have diluted the positive impact of basing the agency in the city.

It is predicted home working will continue after the pandemic with some questioning the long-term viability of large, city-centre office blocks.

He said: “We would expect staff in Dundee to be able to work from home, but equally some of the functions we do, we will always want to draw people into the office.

“There will be a far more blended approach in the future, I would anticipate, but absolutely, the jobs will be here. They will be in the city region. That was a commitment that we made and we will ensure that.”

He said the Site 6 announcement meant the agency had the capacity to create up to 900 jobs.

“This building, and the existing offices that we have, takes us up to a capacity of about 900. The figures that we are currently working off are 750 and we have already got 260 based in the city. So we’re on that kind of growth trajectory.”

He said some of his agency’s benefits were still being designed, meaning it was important to remain flexible on overall headcount.

He added: “What that design looks like will indicate how many people we need to run them.”