Tories have lost control of Civil Service slackers
Judging by last week’s front page regarding Whitehall staff staying away from the office permanently, the Government has completely lost control of its own employees. Civil servants, it seems, refuse to go into the office. This does not inspire confidence in the Government’s ability to run the whole country. Rishi Sunak, decent man though he is, looks increasingly like a startled rabbit, unsure which way to turn. Tough times need a tough approach.
Alan Sharpe, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire
As a retired civil servant, I can assure your readers that civil servants and public sector workers are totally dedicated to the work they do. And they are also taxpayers. I fail to understand why working from home is such a problem.
Staff use their own computers or laptops and internet, and they help the environment by not travelling. If government offices are empty, may I suggest they are converted into housing for the homeless.
Kit Westlake,
Bridgwater, Somerset
Civil servants at Whitehall should not be given the freedom to work from home. Working from home is occasionally unavoidable but it must not be allowed to be the norm.
Collegiate working, group thinking and the development of younger staff are all impeded if people are working from their homes in isolation. Needless to say, employees can also slacken their efforts knowing they are beyond supervision.
Mick Ferrie,
Mawnan Smith, Cornwall
I’m glad that the article mentioned mandarins, as your average civil servant is working in the office 60 per cent of the time. Some of us find we work longer hours at home.
However, I could not help wondering if Jacob Rees-Mogg’s empty office reflected his leadership qualities and interpersonal skills? It looked suspiciously like a training room, which would not be occupied all the time anyway.
J. L. Fynaut, London
My company has massively benefited from being able to employ people who wouldn’t normally be willing or able to relocate near head office through working from home schemes.
The quality of the staff we’ve got working with us has significantly increased. I agree that home working should be a privilege and not necessarily a right – but if the work’s getting done, who cares if it’s being done from an office block, a home office or a beach?
S. Griffin, Bedford
This just goes to show that we don’t need these pampered mandarins. They’re sitting at home not even pretending to work and nobody has even noticed.
Making them redundant would save us a lot of money.
Karen Tucker, Chelmsford