Hybrid work benefits both our professional and personal lives, but data suggests it has entrenched existing inequalities
A few days ago, I witnessed first-hand what working from home was doing to our society. It was a normal work day, and I rushed from my home to the local tube station. As I descended the stairs, I steeled myself for the usual crush of the Central line. But when the train whooshed into the station and I boarded, something seemed odd. It was 8.50am, I was heading into the City of London, and there was a seat available. In fact, there was not just one seat – I counted about 10 free seats on my carriage. Usually you would be lucky to find standing space, so I was trying to figure out what was wrong. I soon realised that it was Friday – the most popular day for employees to work from home.
During the past few years, we have witnessed a revolution in working life. When home working became more common during the Covid pandemic, many assumed this would be a temporary change. Yet according to data released this week by the Office for National Statistics, between September 2022 and January 2023, 16% of the workforce still worked solely from home, while 28% were hybrid workers who split their time between home and the office. Even more than this – 40% – had worked from home at some point in the past seven days, compared with just 12% in 2019. This reflects global trends. A survey of employees in 27 countries found that working from home is becoming much more of a norm. Employees in this sample spent an average of 1.5 days working from home. The UK average was 2 days.
André Spicer is professor of organisational behaviour at the Bayes Business School at City, University of London. He is the author of the book Business Bullshit
