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Today marks three years since the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, made a national television address for the British public to stay at home, and since the first 'work from home’ mandate was put into place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
When that first work-from-home mandate was put into place, nobody could have anticipated the impact it would have on the UK’s workforces, large and small, changing the way people work indefinitely.
Some employees still have not returned to a physical office three years on, and thousands of workers are adjusting to a permanent hybrid working.
When it comes to analysing how workforces have changed over the past three years, the statistics speak for themselves. According to ONS, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, 49% of adults worked from home, and by 2022, 30% of the UK workforce were still working from home at least once a week. To put that into perspective, before the Covid-19 pandemic, only 6% worked from home, and they were mainly senior leaders. Forward to January of this year, the ONS reported that 16% of workers are still solely working from home and have not returned to any office environment since the pandemic began, whilst 28% have adapted to a hybrid approach of splitting their time between the office and home.
In 2021 when businesses were given the green light to begin opening, 43 of the UK’s 50 biggest companies said there would be no full time return to working, offering over a million workers the ability to adopt a permanent flexible working arrangement.
The average worker spends two days working from home per week, and a third of UK workers have admitted they would resign if ever made to return to the office full time.
Covid-19 has certainly given the UK workplace a shake up, but let’s reflect on what lessons have been learnt, and how it has been reshaped entirely by the global pandemic.
Many businesses still fixate that the working day should be a rigid 9-5.30 but working-from home taught us that flexibility can be a brilliant motivator as people, particularly parents, can work flexibly around childcare commitments and still be equally productive. Even today, there are many negative assumptions that working from home means workers slacking, sitting on the sofa in their jogging bottoms and taking too many breaks, but research has actually found that the average employee works an extra 48.5 minutes a day from home and 50% say they feel more productive. Flexibility can be key to working-from-home, and a better work-life balance can do wonders for employee engagement.
Whilst there are arguably some benefits from working from home such as no transport costs or lengthy commutes, and some enjoy it, we must recognise that working from home isn’t suited to everyone, and for some it has proven to be detrimental to their mental health. A survey revealed a staggering 81% of young workers reported feeling lonely, and 60% say they feel less connected to colleagues when working from home. Space can also be an issue for those with smaller homes and 17% resorted to working in their bedroom, and some respondents even admitted working in the bathroom to get the peace they needed.
Working from home taught us that sitting in face-to-face meetings all day everyday is neither productive, nor necessary, and that vast amounts of time can be saved, and proved how effective online platforms can be. 2020 saw the rise of online meeting platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams and one week alone in March 2020 (14th-21st) saw 62 million downloads of business conferencing apps. Zoom became the most downloaded app worldwide in 2020 and a whopping 89% of businesses still use it for meetings today. The availability and quality of online conferencing apps has most certainly changed the ways businesses meet and has made it easier for meetings to occur more effectively with colleagues able to join from anywhere in the world.
It quickly became apparent when businesses shifted to working from home how important informal conversation is to employee’s wellbeing, such as popping by a colleague’s desk, or informal catch ups whilst making a coffee in the rec room. Working from home can destroy a company culture, but with the right tools and effort a culture can also thrive, and unscheduled video catchups and online teambuilding have become an essential part of working-from-home strategies. In the height of the pandemic some businesses even had cocktail making sessions over video conferencing, and team quizzes to keep colleagues socially connected.
With more workers opting for a hybrid approach, you may find your office is becoming a costly under-utilised space and it may be time to re-think your design. Do you need so many desks, or could you reduce the number of workstations and opt for some more communal hub like engagement areas instead? Do you even need such a large premise, or could you reduce overheads by moving to somewhere smaller and cheaper to run? Some large companies such as Aviva took the decision to close some of their large offices altogether during the Covid-19 pandemic, and opt for a permanent working-from-home approach after witnessing the savings that could be made.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, HR teams up and down the country became the go-to support point for all employees, whether for emotional support, or technical support, or financial questions. They also had to implement working-from-home policies, in some businesses which had never adopted any form of flexible working in the past, meaning a steep and fast learning curve. HR teams became the backbone to many firms and reminded workers and business leaders just how critical they are.
The past three years have certainly reshaped the way businesses operate, and working from home has no longer become a choice, as many workers now demand some form of flexible working and are voting with their feet if they don’t get it. The Covid-19 pandemic taught businesses that flexibility can be possible and improved the way many work by improving work-life balances and reducing the number of in-person meetings using video conferencing apps. However, it also highlighted the fragility of employee wellbeing and reminded us that regular communication is vital and that new ways of building a community culture must be implemented if working-from-home will be successful long-term.
For more information about Pegasus Software, or to learn how our business software can be used to help your business successfully work-from-home then please contact us today.
Posted On: March 23, 2023
