Workers in the UK spend less time in the office than any other country – but they want to reduce their days even further as unhappiness with the office grows.
About four million people have changed careers owing to a lack of flexibility at work while an estimated two million have left a job in the past year for the same reason, according to research.
An HR management body says the chancellor's comments that the “default” location for workers should be in the office unless there is a good reason to work from home ignore the huge gains made by businesses and their people.
Imposing a return to pre-Covid working norms could prove a major disadvantage to employers competing for staff against other companies prepared to offer more flexible options, warns a recruitment agency.
The most productive employees (60%) tend to work in organisations with higher tech adoption and a generous amount of flexibility in when or where they work — 28% more than those who say they are less productive, states fresh data.
Analysis by global workplace consultancy Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA) has found that on average hybrid working employees deliver nearly two extra weeks of work a year for their employer as well as working harder and better in a hybrid environment.
Hybrid working is still very much in place, with 30% of companies saying that the majority of their staff split their working time between home and their usual place of work.