So much for back to the office! Civil Service offers WFH jobs paying £117k

THE Civil Service is advertising ‘work from home’ jobs paying salaries up to four times higher than the UK national average, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Despite Ministers telling public sector workers to get back to the office, the Ministry of Defence is looking for a £117,000-a-year Head of Platform Services Executive which the job listing says can be done by ‘remote working (anywhere in the UK)’.

Energy watchdog Ofgem is offering £82,820 for a Principal Regulatory Cyber Advisor which says the successful applicant will only have to work ‘one day a week in the office.’ This is despite criticism for allowing the majority of its staff to work from home while energy prices soar.

Meanwhile, crisis-hit HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), which has months-long delays in processing tax rebates, is advertising a £80,384 role for a Security Advisor who can work from home two days a week ‘or more where the business agrees’.

Frustrated Ministers including PM contender Liz Truss have urged all civil servants to return to their desk.

But this newspaper found 93 ‘home working’ jobs across government departments last week. Many offer wages far in excess of the UK average of £31,285. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is recruiting for a Lead Automation Tester with a potential £67,311 salary. Remarkably, the job advert says: ‘Currently it is anticipated you will be required to attend your workplace for at least 4 days per year.’

Last night, former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘It is devastating for younger employees if the senior people they need to talk to are at home. How are they to learn what their job requires and the responsibilities that come with it? Twodimensional Zoom calls are not a replacement for the office.’

But union bosses claimed staff are just as effective working remotely.

Steven Littlewood, assistant general secretary of the FDA union that represents public sector managers, said: ‘The pandemic showed us that many jobs across many sectors can be done just as well from home. The Civil

‘You will be required to come in four times a year’

Service delivered the furlough scheme, processed a sharp rise in Universal Credit claims and supported the vaccine rollout, all while its staff worked from kitchens, spare bedrooms and home offices.

‘Increased flexible working opens up more jobs to people not based in London, which fits with the Government’s priority of levelling up and moving jobs outside of the capital. It also greatly improves access for those with caring responsibilities.’

A Government spokesperson said: ‘Only four per cent of currently advertised Civil Service jobs offer home working arrangements. Most roles that advertise a home-working pattern still require staff in the office.’

Official figures show the number of Government employees on special ‘home-working’ contracts has almost tripled since the pandemic.

There were 183 home workers across eight of the main Whitehall departments in 2019-20, rising to 309 the

following year and 530 in 2021-22.