A head start on remote working, and low unemployment, left us in prime position. But we need to ensure all are supported
- Prof Christine Grant is an occupational psychologist
More than two years on from the end of the last Covid lockdown, the UK has embraced working from home – to the extent it is now the work-from-home capital of Europe. A recent survey showed UK employees work from home for an average of 1.5 days a week, compared with an international average of 0.9 days. In 2019, about 12% of UK employees were working from home to some extent; by 2022 it was between 25% and 40%, depending on the time of year.
In other areas, the British workplace isn’t particularly flexible or easygoing: we consistently report some of the longest working hours in Europe. So how have we managed to end up in top position? It’s likely to be a combination of factors. First, the UK was already within the top five countries for remote working before the pandemic. By 2021, more than half of Brits were saying they’d like to work from home at least some of the time – and given the UK’s low unemployment rate, employers are incentivised to offer remote or hybrid working where possible to attract and retain staff.
Prof Christine Grant is an occupational psychologist at the University of Coventry Centre for Healthcare Research
