TRANSPORT
HOMEWORKING BEYOND COVID – WILL IT HAVE A BIG PART TO PLAY? Recent surveys have suggested that many people would like some element of homeworking to become a permanent fixture of their job. Richard Pilgrim, marketing manager at Travel South Yorkshire’s Active and Sustainable Travel Team, talks to Chris Coates about the importance of employer and employee communication when it comes to future working practices According to a survey by AlphaWise of office workers across Europe, many ‘do not expect to return to their workplace until at least the summer’. Sixty two per cent of those currently working from home, for at least one day a week, think they will be back in the office around June. The survey, undertaken by AlphaWise, also highlighted that UK office workers have continued to spend more time working from home – an average of 3.1 days per week,
38
compared to Germany (2.5 days) and Spain (1.8 days). When asked how many days they would like to work from home in the future, respondents from the UK said they wanted an average of around 2.5 days per week. But the feeling amongst those surveyed was that their employer may not match their expectations, with most believing that they were more likely to be allowed to work from home around 1.5 days per week. At the same time, a separate YouGov poll showed
that 66 per cent of people listed the ‘ability to work remotely or flexibly’ as their top priority when looking for roles in the future. Although the 40 per cent of people that that have continued to work from home have realised a number of benefits from increased workplace flexibility, and many employers have supported this transition, it has not been an easy time for many who have needed to juggle work and family commitments.
Whilst uncertainty continues around how and where large numbers of people will work in the future, there have been noticeable shifts in attitudes towards remote working. There have been several recent high-profile stories of organisations that have permanently switched to, or expanded their use of, remote and home-based working. Many of these have involved major household names with offices in multiple territories, but there are examples far
unLTDBUSINESS.COM
