Working from home ‘not a fair job’ – ex-Asda boss

The former boss of Marks & Spencer and Asda has warned that working from home is creating a generation that is “not doing a proper job”.

Lord Rose told BBC Panorama that home working was part of the “general decline” of the UK economy and was affecting staff productivity.

His comments come as some companies are moving to remote work. Amazon, Boots and JP Morgan are just some of the businesses that now require their head office staff every day.

However, Professor Nicholas Bloom, an expert on working from home, said that working entirely remotely could be “quite detrimental” to the productivity of some workers, but that spending three out of five days in the office was completely safe for the overall workforce. -based work was equally productive.

Lord Rose, who was chief executive of M&S and recently stepped down as chairman of Asda, said: “We have gone 20 years backwards in this country in terms of working practices, productivity and well-being, “Final four, I think.”

In a December 2024 UK snapshot survey by the Office for National Statistics, 26% of people said they were hybrid-working in the past seven days, some days in the office and some days at home – while 13% were completely remote. and 41% were entirely office-based (the remainder were not working at the time).

The work-from-home trend has transformed local economies. Industry estimates indicate that vacant office space has nearly doubled since the pandemic, a quarter of dry-cleaning businesses have closed, and the number of golf games played during the work week has increased 350% – This suggests that some people are mixing work and pleasure.

Working from home is fast becoming a major battleground in the culture wars. The government is currently drafting legislation to strengthen the right of employees across the UK to request to work from home and says it aims to make it harder for employers to refuse requests.

But some employers – including government bodies – are struggling to get staff back into the office, arguing that face-to-face interaction is essential for collaborative working.

In some cases, such as the independent record label Hospital Records, this requires negotiation between the young workforce – some of whom may never have worked full-time in an office – and their older bosses.

Company founder Chris Goss, who introduced a new policy requiring employees to work in the office three days instead of two, said he had “a nagging feeling” that remote work affected the company’s bottom line. Is.

“I firmly believe that the music industry is about relationships, and so the only way for any of us to be able to build meaningful relationships like this is to do it in person.”

Maya, a 25-year-old marketing manager at the company, said she likes being around her more experienced colleagues at work. “There are a lot of people on my team who are much further along in their careers, so if I need help with something, you know, I can just ask someone.”

But she admits she won’t be able to be in the office five days a week, “because my social battery is drained and I just need to be at home sometimes and finish a lot of admin”.

Professor Bloom, an economist at Stanford University, said his research on working from home shows that employees in their teens and 20s should be in the office at least four days a week to maximize their chances of getting mentorship. Should stay in.

However, he said surveys of thousands of employees in the UK, US and Europe show that employees value the ability to work from home two days a week to the tune of about an 8% pay increase.

Employment Rights Minister Justin Madders told Panorama there is growing evidence that working from home is more productive. He also said it is good for growth because companies will have a “much more motivated workforce” and “if we are able to get more people to work because there is flexibility available to them, that will help us reach our growth ambitions.” will gain help in”.

Professor Bloom may not be optimistic about the impact of hybrid working on productivity, but he agrees that increasing the number of roles done from home could help economic growth if it gets more people back to work. Encourages bringing up, such as caring responsibilities.

“It’s a huge boost” and “kind of a win, win, win”, as people will be able to work in better conditions, contribute to tax revenues and “everybody benefits”.

One of those who could benefit is Harleen, who was made redundant after the birth of her second child and is unable to return to work because she can’t find a fully remote role that supports her autistic son. Be consistent with routine.

“I’m not seeing those jobs advertised. I’m not seeing anything that offers that flexibility,” she said.

“Every day I wake up and think I’m living in Groundhog Day. All I’m doing is being a mom. I enjoy being a mom, but I want productivity. I’m starting to feel like I’m Just becoming a mother.” brain dead.”

In the public sector, productivity is at its lowest since 1997 – excluding the pandemic lockdown years – and some blame working from home. From November 2023, civil servants are to be called back for two to three days a week.

But in many public bodies, including the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in Newport, South Wales, some staff are refusing to return.

Ed, an IT delivery manager at ONS and representative of the PCS trade union, said he has worked almost entirely from home since the pandemic. They say this helps them take their children to school and nursery and not waste time in commuting.

“Senior leaders at ONS never told us there was a problem with productivity, there was a problem with quality, there was a problem with meeting deadlines,” he said.

“We will never get this opportunity again. We have to fight for workers’ rights.”

He and other union members are threatening to strike if they are forced to travel to the office 40% of the time. Civilian staff at the Metropolitan Police and union members at the Land Registry are also in dispute over policies on returning to the office.

The ONS, which is negotiating with the union, says it believes “face-to-face interaction” helps “build working relationships, support collaboration and innovation”.

But whatever the outcome of such controversies, it is clear that all of us working full-time in the office is now a thing of the past.