Why Sunak is right to be pushing for a return to the office
WHAT image does the phrase “working from home” (WFH) conjure up for you? During the blistering summer of 2020, for those of us lucky enough to have a garden, it sometimes meant sitting by a patio table tapping away on a laptop computer with a glass of something chilled beside us.
Even during the more indifferent weather it has often meant working at the dining table, freed from the onerous daily commute and possibly from the need to dress smartly.
Perhaps once a week we have needed to take a video call from the big boss and have put on a shirt and tie, while still clad below the waist in beach shorts and flip flops. In other words, for those well-established in their chosen fields and well setup domestically, it has generally been a bit of a breeze.
Many employers have also been pleasantly surprised at how quickly their businesses have adjusted to large-scale WFH. Systems have been put in place to measure employee output and technology has generally proved equal to the task of keeping the workflow going. Cost controllers have found themselves licking their lips at the idea some of this could be permanent, with a need for less office space and the prospect of lower utility bills.
BUT this is only half the story. For many younger, less established and less well-connected workers the experience of WFH has been far less satisfactory.
Those sharing rented houses have often had to negotiate with housemates over access to broadband. Others have seen cramped bedrooms – or even beds – become offices and have developed strains and backache from all the crouching.
Fortunately, those suffering the pitfalls of WFH have found an influential ally in Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who is leading a drive to get people back to their offices. Part of what is motivating Sunak is knowing how many urban businesses depend on office workers for trade; the shops, bars, dry cleaners, restaurants, pubs, barber shops and much else besides that give our city centres their economic vibrancy. So long as office districts are in ghost town mode, the prospect of redundancies and a rash of boarded-up premises will become more acute.
But there is more to it than that. As a mere 41-year-old – a whippersnapper byWestminster standards – Sunak can remember setting out as a new graduate seeking to make his way in the world of high finance and the office environment was where he got to shine.
“The mentors that I found when I first started my job, I still talk to and they have been helpful to me all through my career,” said Mr Sunak. “I doubt I would have had those strong relationships if I was doing my summer internship or my first bit of my career over Teams and Zoom.”
The Chancellor is said to be pushing behind the scenes for the Government to set an example to private industry by getting more civil servants back into Whitehall and regional offices. Many backbench MPs are onside, with Mark Harper of the Covid Recovery Group tabling parliamentary questions on the subject but being told by Cabinet Office Minister Julia Lopez: “The safe return of more civil servants to the workplace will be enacted by departments in line with updated safer working guidance.” Which could mean almost anything.
It is to be hoped that Mr Sunak can put rocket boosters under this because there are numerous other advantages to “being there”. Learning to work in a team, navigating departmental meetings, bouncing ideas off colleagues, being able to assess one’s own output in relation to a peer group – and yes, a bit of internal competition can sharpen performance all round – and seeing the techniques more experienced colleagues use to deliver better results are all massively beneficial to younger staff members and entire organisations.
THEN there are the social advantages. Lifelong friendships can be forged. Many of us meet those we fall in love with and marry in the workplace. Being connected to something bigger than ourselves is also known to enhance mental health, while isolation tends to do the opposite.
One suspects that employers who go all-in forWFH in pursuit of short-term cost savings may find there is a long-term sting in the tail.They will be less able to judge who is really deserving of promotion. New innovations will flow more slowly. Productivity advances will not keep pace with competitors.
Before the pandemic struck, the office was a much-maligned environment. Mr Sunak is right to remind us all of its many virtues too.
‘A bit of internal competition can sharpen performance all round’