The number of Britons who want to work from home for good has fallen sharply since last year, a poll suggests.
A survey found that 24 per cent wanted to work mostly or completely from home after the pandemic. Far more — 37 per cent — wanted to work mostly or completely from the office, while 17 per cent wanted about half their time at home and half in the office.
The poll, by Opinium for the Prospect trade union, suggests that the attraction of home working has declined during the third lockdown. A YouGov poll asking the same question in November found that 50 per cent wanted to home work every day or most days.
In the new survey, conducted from April 1 to 7, the desire to keep access to an office was highest among younger workers. Sixty-four per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds wanted at least some of their work time in the office, compared with 48 per cent of 35 to 54s, and 49 per cent of over-55s.
The poll also found 24 per cent of people work for firms who have used technology to monitor them. Nine per cent said they were being monitored by cameras, 8 per cent were subject to email or chat response time monitoring and 5 per cent by keystroke monitoring. Seven per cent said another technology was used. Respondents could choose more than one option.
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Some people were downbeat about whether they would be asked what kind of work pattern they wanted after Covid-19, with only 22 per cent saying they had been consulted. A further 31 per cent said they had either been told they would be consulted or expected to be, but 37 per cent did not expect to be consulted about their future work pattern.
Mike Clancy, Prospect’s general secretary, said: “This is a revolutionary moment for workplaces but there are too many in business and government rushing into decisions without thinking about consequences and without listening to what workers want.”
The government is preparing a public consultation this year on how to extend flexible working, potentially ensuring people who have transitioned to a hybrid of home and office working will be able to maintain that pattern.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is likely to look at ways to strengthen the legal right to request flexible working. Under present rules, employees can formally ask for changes to their working pattern. The employer must deal with the request in a “reasonable manner” and make a decision within three months.
The plans could go further and introduce a right to request ad hoc flexible working, whereby people can work from home or change their hours to suit them. Some in government want to enshrine a legal right to work from home, The Times has been told.
