Home workers feel ‘out of sight, out of mind’

EMPLOYEES are worried that working from home means they will be “out of sight, out of mind” for progressing their career, new research suggests.

Two out of five of 1,000 adults surveyed by the professional network LinkedIn said working away from the office may harm their prospects due to having less face-time with their boss.

One in three respondents said they believed being in the office was better for their progression.

A separate study among 250 company bosses found most were planning to offer their staff greater flexibility around where they work, such as hybrid or remote working.

Janine Chamberlin, UK country manager at LinkedIn, said: “Greater flexibility is undoubtedly good for people and businesses, but both will only benefit if workplace policies are designed so that everyone feels included, regardless of their location. We risk undoing all the great progress that we’ve made over the past 19 months if people feel that they have to be in offices to progress in their career.

“We must not succumb to presenteeism. To make this new world of work truly work for everyone, leaders must re-evaluate everything from learning and development opportunities, to performance reviews and career progression through a new lens – one that puts people first and not location.”

Four out of five executives surveyed said they intended to introduce training courses to help people work flexibly.

LinkedIn said its research indicated many workers feared being “out of sight, out of mind” if they were not in an office.