Will the shift out of offices to homes work out for the best?
Working from home is set to stay for millions of people around the country. Business editor GRAEME WHITFIELD asks what that means for the world of work and our home lives
FROM Zoom calls interrupted by pets, children and delivery drivers to ironing boards turned into makeshift desks, the switch to working from home has not always gone smoothly.
Digital technology has allowed office-based workers around the world to carry on their work as normal during the pandemic – or as near to normal as is possible.
But the months at home have also shown up the limitations of the home office, with everything from internet connection problems to the difficulty of leaving the workplace behind in small homes adding to the stresses of working from home (or WFH as it has inevitably become known).
Last summer saw comments from Chancellor Rishi Sunak on how people should return to the office – partly because of the need to spark city centre economies – widely criticised. More recently, in unguarded comments at a Conservative party conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that “it wouldn’t be a bad thing for people to see their way round to making a passing stab at getting back into the office”.
But with many employers now indicating that working from home will become the default setting for most of their staff, minds are turning to how to make the home office setup a better fit with the rest of people’s lives.
The latest How We Live report from insurance company Aviva suggests that more sheds, garages and summerhouses could be transformed into home offices as people adapt their properties to meet their working needs.
People’s current home working set-ups could be moved from sofas and dining tables to more permanent arrangements, Aviva said, with some analysts saying that dedicated home offices could add up to 5% onto the value of people’s properties.
Aviva’s report found that currently nearly half (48%) of home workers are making do with tables which are normally used for other activities, while 22% use sofas and armchairs. One in seven (14%) home workers said they sometimes work from their bed, rising to nearly a third (31%) of under-25-year-old home workers
who work from their beds on some occasions.
The study interviewed nearly 1,400 workers who were home-based across the UK as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nearly half (48%) found it less stressful than being based wholly at another location, with a lack of commuting, more time with family and not having to worry about what to wear among the reasons why.
But one in five (19%) found working from home more stressful. Common reasons included not having a suitable space to work from, competing for space with other people and finding it too noisy at home.
Gareth Hemming, personal lines managing director at Aviva, said: “Flexible working and home working practices have been around for some time, but they have really come into their own in the last year.
“Many employees report they have been less stressed and more productive as a result of working from home. They have had the flexibility to work around their personal lives and they have been trusted to work in a way which suits them.
“While home working is not the choice of every individual, we are likely to see more flexibility as a basic benchmark for the future, with many people working remotely, at least some of the time.
“Many insurance providers adapted their home products during the pandemic to allow people to work from home without making any changes to their policies, but if customers are unsure about their cover, they should speak to their insurer to check that it is suitable for their circumstances.”
A number of major employers – including Google and Apple – have told employees not to return to the office any time soon.
And a study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) suggests that the switch to working from home could have benefits to employers beyond simple savings on office rents.
The CIPD study found that the rise in home-working during the pandemic increased productivity, sparking calls for employers to put more effort into making hybrid working a success rather than rushing to return staff to workplaces and previous ways of working.
In the CIPD survey, two-thirds of respondents said they plan to introduce or expand the use of hybrid working, leading the CIPD to call on organisations and the Government to make being able to request flexible working a day-one right for all employees.
Many employers said staff who cannot work from home should still be able to benefit from flexible working arrangements, such as flexi-time.
Claire McCartney, of the CIPD, said: “The pandemic has shown that ways of working that previously seemed impossible are actually possible.
“Organisations should take stock and carefully consider how to make hybrid working a success, rather than rushing people back to their workplace when there are clearly productivity benefits to home-working.
“To make hybrid working a success in the long term, employers need to implement a strategy that focuses on wellbeing, communication and collaboration to recognise people’s individual preferences.
“It’s encouraging to hear some organisations are looking at other forms of flexible working, as we know that remote working isn’t an option for everyone.
“Those who cannot work from home should still be able to benefit from having more of a choice and a say in when and how they work.”