Homeworking to ‘more than double’ pre-pandemic levels

Homeworking is set to more than double in the UK, compared to pre-pandemic levels once the coronavirus crisis is over, according to the latest survey carried out by the CIPD. As the Government urges people to consider returning to the workplace, CIPD’s research reveals that employers expect the proportion of people working from home on a regular basis to increase to 37% post-pandemic, compared to 18% before the health crisis. 

Employers also expect the proportion of staff who work from home all the time to rise to 22% post pandemic, compared to 9% before lockdown measures were imposed. The survey of 1,046 employers also highlights that employers believe people working from home are actually just as productive as those working from the office, with 28% of employers believing the increase in homeworking has increased productivity and/or efficiency.

FLEXIBLE FUTURE

In fact, the average proportion of the workforce working from home continuously during the lockdown was 54%, confirmed the CIPD. To support the shift to more regular homeworking and other forms of flexible working, it believes the right to request flexible working should become a day-one right for all employees, rather than after 26-weeks as currently required. 

The CIPD survey found that many employers are already getting ready for a more flexible future. Almost half (44%) of employers said that they are putting in place additional measures or spend to support home working. Of these, 66% plan to change their policies to enable more home working and 46% plan more line management training in managing and supporting home workers. Around 33% of employers plan to introduce new forms of flexible working or try and increase the uptake of existing flexible working arrangements, including working from home on a regular basis (70%), always working from home (45%), part-time hours (40%), flexi-time (39%), term-time working (16%) and compressed.

FLEXIBLE WORK CONSULTATION

The UK Government has pledged to consult on whether to make flexible working the default position unless employers have a good reason not to. Commenting on the survey results, Peter Cheese, Chief Executive of the CIPD, stated: “The pandemic is going to have a long-lasting effect on how we work, with a step change in the proportion of people who work from home on a much more regular basis. This will disrupt some existing patterns of economic activity, for example spending by office workers in town and city centres is likely to drop substantially over the long-term and we will see a further shift to online retail.”

However, Cheese believes that the advantages will be considerable for employers and workers. “Organisations will be able to hire people from a much wider geographic area and reduced time and money spent on commuting will take pressure off our transport infrastructure and boost spending in local communities,” he pointed out.

MAKING WORK MORE ACCESSIBLE

Cheese believes that “greater use of home working will make work more accessible and sustainable for all, particularly for people with caring responsibilities and those with mobility or health concerns”. This shift will “support and encourage employers to recruit and retain a more diverse workforce, which is good for the economy and society at large,” he added. “For many people more flexible working opportunities and choice over when and where they work can give a better work-life balance and support for overall mental and physical wellbeing.”

However, Cheese noted that many employers “need to improve how they manage and support people who work from home more regularly and crucially also need to increase the range and uptake of other forms of flexible working so those people who are not able to work from home can work flexibly wherever possible in different ways”. “To support this wider shift to more flexible workplaces we would like to see the right to request flexible working become a day one right,” he added.