• 3 MIN READ

The Future of Remote Work and Its Implications for UK Businesses

October 25, 2023

It’s been over two years since the last COVID lockdown ended, and the UK has become increasingly immersed in remote work, now being the European capital of working from home.

How did this country manage to come out on top? There were several factors at play. The UK was among the top five leading countries for remote working even before the pandemic. By 2021, more than half of Brits said they would like to work from home at least sometimes. Currently, many companies are keen to offer remote or hybrid working formats whenever possible to attract and retain employees. In this article, we’ll discuss the past and future of remote work, as well as its implications for businesses across the UK.

Remote Working Before 2020

Flexible working arrangements can be seen as an innovation and a modern approach. Before 2020, it was the exception, not the rule. Let’s see how this has changed for UK employees.

Remote work was relatively rare in 1981, as at that time, only 1.5 per cent of employed people reported working primarily from home.
By 2019, the number of remote workers had tripled to 4.7 per cent.
The percentage of employees working exclusively from home rose, reaching 5.7 per cent in January-February 2020 and an astonishing 43.1 per cent in April 2020.
Already before the pandemic, employees went to the physical office an average of 3.8 days per week.

Remote Working During the Lockdown

When the pandemic began in the spring of 2020, the number of remote workers changed overnight. Let’s look at some statistics about working from home at the start of the lockdown:

86 per cent of people who worked from home did so as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Women worked from home slightly more often than men, 47.5 per cent and 45.7 per cent, respectively.
57.2 per cent of Londoners did some work from home.
For 40 per cent of respondents, the perception of working from home has improved significantly, and only for 5 per cent of them has it slightly worsened.

According to a recent LinkedIn survey, more than a third of UK workers would quit their current job if told to return to the office full-time. Employee responses are seen as further evidence that employers need to offer flexibility to their workers to recruit and retain staff, especially in a tight labour market.

Also, read our article Eight Ways to Work Safely from Home.

Is Hybrid Working the Work Format of the Future?

As restrictions are gradually loosening in many countries, employers and employees try to find a balance between the traditional office work of the pre-pandemic period and the increasingly common trend of flexible remote working. This is known as hybrid working, and it involves splitting working hours between office and home.

Today, businesses discuss the possible effects of such a transition. Can it be sustainable in the long term? Does it improve productivity? These are the questions to answer. However, there is definitely a noticeable increase in the number of people returning to the office environment.

Let’s consider some global data related to hybrid working:

In the US, 47 per cent of workers prefer to work in a hybrid format.
In the UK, this figure is higher — 58 per cent of workers prefer the hybrid model.
The main reason for 21 per cent of respondents quitting their jobs in 2021 was the lack of flexible working hours or location.
After COVID, employees went to the physical office an average of 1.4 days per week.

How Does Remote Work Impact Productivity?

There’s no clear evidence that working from home boosts productivity. It’s simply not possible that every worker who can do the job while at home will do it more productively. However, people who find it beneficial for their productivity levels want to continue working from home in the future.

Here are some interesting facts:

Many people have mentioned that they’ve worked longer hours and concentrated better because they were at home.
40.9 per cent of those working from home said that their productivity in summer 2020 did not change. 28.9 per cent reported an increase in productivity, while 30.2 per cent said that their productivity had decreased.

Economists from MIT and the University of California found that working from home causes an 18 per cent drop in productivity for data entry workers in India compared to those working in an office.
A study of 61,000 Microsoft employees found that working from home is bad for communication between different teams.

What Changes Do Organisations See?

Research shows that flexible working arrangements present both benefits and challenges for organisations. The pros can include improved employee well-being, cost savings, increased productivity, reduced sick leave, and more efficient workforce allocation. The cons can include a deterioration in employee mental health, barriers to employee interaction, collaboration and engagement, negative impact on workplace culture, and productivity losses.

Here we gathered the most relevant findings of the study:

Organisations are keen to increase remote working due to the positive impact on employee well-being but recognise the challenges of staff isolation and interaction difficulties. Some face-to-face interaction and the use of innovative technology can mitigate these issues.
Evidence on the impact of remote and hybrid working on productivity is limited. Between a third and a half of employers report no change, but more employers report a decrease rather than an increase. It’s important to note that labour productivity changes vary by industry.
Senior managers and HR departments help create an organisational culture that favours flexible working the most. Line managers’ support for remote working is crucial, especially for workers with disabilities.
Remote working expands the labour pool by reducing skills mismatch. However, its impact on recruitment is not well documented, and younger employees are less enthusiastic about it. Compared to before the pandemic, more managers now support the inclusion of flexible working options in job adverts.

If you want to learn more about the UK economy and innovations, explore the Payrow’s blog. Our authors strive to highlight the most valuable information from thousands of news articles to make it easier for you to navigate the media landscape.

Features