Working from Home is not "proper work", at least according to Lord Rose, the former boss of Asda and Marks and Spencer.
Both companies allowed their non-front facing staff to work entirely from home during Lockdown, a practice which was allowed to drift into post-lockdown, but they, along with many other companies, are now demanding that workers come into their offices for at least three days a week.
If we look at things since 2023, when we can safely say the lockdown hangover was over, then there's been a slight decline in the number of totally in-office jobs, and a slight increase in hybrid and entirely at-home roles...
Is homeworking less productive...?
That's what Lord Rose is worried about, and I get it, there is a temptation when working from home to do less because you are not under as strict surveillance. And no doubt there are people who take the piss!
However, there is also research (linked in the article above) which suggests there are no productivity losses when people work from home two days a week.
To me this quote sums it up best, talking of one hybrid worker who feels that
"She would not be able to be in the office five days a week "because my social battery drains and I need sometimes to be just at home and just to smash out loads of admin".
Five days a week in the office with colleagues can be draining, and it can be distracting, and sometimes it can be more productive to just have a later start, having saved 30 minutes or more on your commute, and then sit down alone at home and just focus on one of those longer tasks that requires deeper concentration, offices are not necessarily conducive to that.
However it is useful, at least in my working role, to be in the office sometimes. In one job I'm in one day a week, it's useful to be able to talk to people, and then another I'm at home, I am far more productive when I'm at home, I get more done, even though I probably work for an hour or two less.
Of course it depends on the job...
In one of my roles I could do am 80-20 home office split, in the other probably 20-80 would be more appropriate, because there is simply more face to face client contact with that.
And obviously here we are ruling out teachers, nurses and the like.
However where you can work from home, I'd lean on the side of doing it more, for the simple reason that it saves you time travelling to and from work, which is just a really shit use of one's time!
I think hybrid working is here to stay, it's just much more pleasant, and no less productive over all!
Posted Using INLEO