Ambitious women and younger staff suffer from ‘wf h’

WORKING from home should not become ‘living at work’, a business Minister has warned – as the head of one of Britain’s biggest banks said it would never go back to pre-Covid office working.

Paul Scully, who is also Minister for London, warned of the damage to cities and to younger staff’s development posed by ‘wfh’.

He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We have to make sure that we don’t hollow out the cultural offerings that we all really enjoy, living in or near a major city.’ He said the office also brought ‘collaboration and great networking opportunities and mentoring opportunities’.

He added: ‘There are some significant benefits of flexible working but that’s not the same as permanently working from home, because that’s basically just living at work.’

Alison Rose, chief executive of NatWest Group, said the bank would move to a permanent ‘hybrid’ model combining home working and office work – even after lockdown ends fully.

Ms Rose also warned the pandemic is having a ‘regressive’ effect on women who want to start their own business – as they take on the bigger share of home schooling and housework.

A new study for the government by Ms Rose argues that women are an untapped resource which could help fuel the post-Covid recovery, if ‘barriers’ to them starting businesses are removed.

The report, which is due to be published tomorrow, also revealed that 77 per cent of female business owners found managing their business in the pandemic stressful, compared to 55 per cent of male entrepreneurs.

More than half of the women surveyed said they would not recommend starting a business in their sector in 2021.

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Ms Rose said: ‘If women find themselves at even more of a professional disadvantage on the other side of this crisis, then we will have failed and be attempting to build an economic recovery that will be ignoring the huge potential represented by female entrepreneurs.’

Turning to working from home, which Ms Rose has been predominantly doing personally for a year, she said: ‘There are positives and negatives to working from home. I have some colleagues for whom working from home has been an absolutely fantastic experience, and it’s given them flexibility and more time with their family.

‘For others, it has been a hugely isolating and difficult experience where their wellbeing and mental health has really struggled.’

She said after the pandemic the bank would move to a ‘hybrid type of work going forward’.

Mr Scully said the Government

‘It’s basically just living at work’

wants to ‘build on flexible working’ and learn lessons from the past year.

However, he warned: ‘I’ve been on a number of calls when I’ve seen people propping up a laptop on the end of their bed, or have six housemates all competing for wi-fi or your children running in – it’s really difficult to juggle.’