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https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/jan/03/post-christmas-blues-as-uk-bosses-try-to-turn-back-clock-on-hybrid-working>
"The post-festive return to work in the dark days of January is never easy, but
this new year is shaping up to be tougher than usual for UK workers. Not only
must they brave days of severe cold and ice, but many face the end of
post-pandemic hybrid working.
A range of big employers are hauling their teams back to the office, with
Amazon issuing the strictest mandate, demanding staff attend in person five
days a week.
Such orders are provoking fresh battles between employees and their bosses, who
believe staff need to be brought together to foster collaboration, creativity
and a sense of belonging.
While the luxury of being able to work remotely is not possible for all jobs,
it has increasingly become viewed as a right in the almost five years since
Covid lockdowns forced staff to carry out their roles from their dining tables,
spare bedrooms or sheds at the bottom of the garden, with many arguing they are
just as productive at home.
While Amazon’s return to pre-Covid attendance expectations makes it something
of an outlier, it is not alone in prioritising physical presence.
As of 1 January, BT is requiring its 50,000 office-based employees across the
UK and several other countries to attend three days a week in what it calls a
“three together, two wherever” approach. Workers at the telecoms company have
been told that office entry and exit data will be used to monitor attendance.
The accountancy firm PwC is also clamping down on remote working; the
Spanish-owned bank Santander is formalising attendance requirements for its
10,000 UK staff; the digital bank Starling has ordered staff back to the office
more regularly; and the supermarket chain Asda has made a three-day office week
compulsory for thousands of workers at its Leeds and Leicester sites.
The international picture is similar. Some of Germany’s largest employers have
also formalised a three-day office regime, including the software company SAP
and telecoms firm Deutsche Telekom. The carmaker Volkswagen and lender Deutsche
Bank have gone a step further for managers, expecting them to be present four
days a week.
Multiple studies suggest that the future of work is flexible, with time split
between the office and home or another location, in what has been called “the
‘new normal” by the Office for National Statistics.
The ONS found in its latest survey that hybrid was the standard pattern for
more than a quarter (28%) of working adults in Great Britain in autumn 2024. At
the same time, working entirely remotely had fallen since 2021, it found.
One of the most frequently reported business reasons for hybrid working was
“improved staff wellbeing”, the ONS found, while those who worked from home
saved an average of 56 minutes each day by dodging the commute."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
