Back to all articles It wasn’t so long ago that working from home was the impossible dream, only possible for a small minority of well-compensated and technical professions. In 1995, an episode of The Simpsons had Homer gain 28 kilos in order to qualify as obese enough to work at home. He might have saved himself some bother: 26 years later, 37% of adults were working at home in the UK in 2020: a rise of nearly 10% from the year before.
Coronavirus hasn’t brought this on by itself. Rising property prices has meant many industries exploring how to expand their businesses without increasing their real estate costs, and home working has increasingly been the solution, well before the pandemic. It’s likely it’ll stay that way, at least for 24% of businesses asked by the ONS, and higher in certain industries like information and communication (49%).
All industries have found creative ways to include remote working, not just teachers and white collar trades. A third of construction workers, over a quarter of retail workers, a fifth of manufacturing workers and 18% of arts and entertainment workers worked remotely in 2020. Perhaps not a permanent shift for all, but we’re already seeing the spread of this new expectation, and it’s employees particularly who think they can and should work from home at least some of the time: businesses are much more likely to expect things to return to normal… at some point.
But it may not: recruiters are seeing home-working increasingly as an offer in the job market. Online job adverts including terms related to “homeworking” have increased three times above their February 2020 average. Workers who have been home working even temporarily have seen improved productivity and better well-being, and it’s hard to tempt them back into the office. And when they come back in, a majority also expect to see enhanced cleaning, ventilation, and a limit on employees in the office, which few businesses surveyed had anticipated. And increasing challenges on the commute, as labour shortages affect haulage, construction and transport (meaning more road works and slower public transport) is going to be a further challenge to the return to the office.
Employers willing to make the offer of working from home can find there are other advantages in recruitment. No longer limited to people living or willing to live nearby, those employers offering home working can cast their net wider, allowing firms in Staffordshire, Leeds and Devon compete with firms in the south east for talent.
Home working isn’t available to all employers, or wanted from all employees. But it can for those looking for the right fit, it’s a solution that offers flexibility to employees, and stability to employers.