Working from home – will the workforce of the future be mostly remote?

On March 23^rd, 2020, the Prime Minister advised the nation that unless it was impossible to do so, everyone should work from home if possible. This guidance will likely be relaxed on July 19^th as we see the final easing of restrictions and get back to a normal life.  However, many employees are seeking to continue the new norm of working from home.

Since the overwhelming demand in remote working over the past 15 months, Downing Street has confirmed the government is considering legislation to make working from home the “default” option by giving employees the right to request it. However, they emphasised there would be no legal right to work from home.

What the stats say

In a recent survey, conducted in March 2021, 3140 people were asked a multiple-choice questionnaire about their thoughts of working from home and returning to the office. Preliminary results showed that 78% of responses stated that they would prefer to work in the office for two days or less. 31% of responses stated that they would prefer not to spend any time at all in the office. This equates to fewer than one in ten respondents wanting to return to the office full time when COVID-19 restrictions are eased.

Another survey of 900 UK firms, conducted by the British Commerce Chambers (BCC), found that remote working was by far the most common form of flexible working offered at 66% of the firms surveyed.

It was also discovered that 80% of B2B services can offer remote working, while only 54% of B2C services can offer remote working.

72% of the businesses surveyed said they will have at least one member of staff working remotely over the next 12 months, with those firms expecting an average of 53% of their workforce to be working at least some of their hours remotely.

The consensus of employees is that they want the option to work from home, or even in the office. In fact, nearly 40% of workers would consider quitting their jobs if their bosses made them return to the office full time without the option of Flexi-working.

Some companies have decided to redesign the workplace for more collaboration and keep solo tasks for remote working to accommodate this. Other businesses plan to cut back on office space entirely. But some firms, such as JPMorgan, are not advocates of remote working and want to see the majority of their workforce back in the office.

If you have an employment dispute, you may need to seek legal advice. Find out more about our employment law services at Corporate Law Services or call 023 8023 4433 to get started.

Disclaimer: Information on this webpage is not intended for legal purposes or advice. If you require legal advice or services you should seek a professional legal practitioner.