New research by the CIPD shows that employers expect that 37 per cent of employees will be working from home on a regular basis – compared to 18 per cent before the pandemic. This is despite the government urging office staff to return to the workplace from August.
The survey of 1,046 employers shows that they also expect the proportion of people who work from home all the time to rise to 22 per cent after the pandemic. This compares to 9 per cent before the lockdown. It was reported that the average proportion of the workforce performing their roles from home continuously was 54 per cent.
The employers surveyed believe that people working from home are just as productive as other workers – with 28 per cent of employers believing that productivity has increased; 28 per cent have the opposite belief and 37 per cent think there has not been any effect on productivity or efficiency.
In respect of home working and flexible working hours, the CIPD believe that the government should make it the right for all employees to be eligible to do this from day one - as opposed to having to have worked for the same employer for 26 weeks.
Peter Cheese - Chief Executive of the CIPD - said:
“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, 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. 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. 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, 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.”
The CIPD’s survey found that many employers are already getting ready for a more flexible future – 44 per cent stated they are putting in additional measures to support home working and of these 66 per cent plan to change their policies to enable the move to more home working and 46 per cent plan more line management training.
In addition, 33 per cent of employers plan to introduce new forms of flexible working, including 70 per cent working from home on a regular basis; 45 per cent always working from home; 40 per cent working from home part time; 39 per cent working flexi-time and 16 per cent term-time working.
