Working from home to stay here – If employees have any explanation, new research finds
Despite growing pressure from senior business people to bring employees back to the office full-time, a new study shows that a large percentage of the UK workforce is reluctant to give up the flexibility they expect.
According to research from King’s College London and King’s School of Business Global Women’s Leadership Institute, half of the UK workers will actively seek new jobs if they are forced to return to the office five days a week.
The findings came from a million data points in the government’s workforce survey and 50,000 responses to the UK’s work arrangements and attitude survey, showing a huge change in attitudes since the pandemic. Only 42% of workers will receive full-time office returns, down from 54% in early 2022. During the same period, they said they will look for new jobs in response to the mandatory rate of return rising from 40% to 50%. The shares said they will immediately resign from 5% to 10%.
Resistance is especially strong among women and parents. The study found that if forced to return to the office full-time, 64% of women will quit or look for new jobs, compared with 51% for men. Only one-third of mothers with children say they will comply with such tasks. Among fathers with school-age children, the share said they will leave or look elsewhere, increasing from 38% in early 2022 to 53% by the end of 2023.
Researchers also found that black and minority workers were more likely to comply with office mandates, which they believed might reflect greater work insecurity or fear of workplace discrimination.
Managers must adapt to a pandemic world where flexible work is no longer a revitalization but expectation, said Heejung Chung, the lead author of the study. She believes companies that are still sticking to their pre-working model may harm employee well-being and long-term productivity. “There has been a clear shift in attitudes and now workers see flexibility as the norm,” she said. “Instead of forcing back to outdated models, employers should formalize hybrid policies, invest in digital tools and plan coordinated office time to make the most of face-to-face time.”
The report also highlights the role of remote working in maintaining labour market participation in women who care and responsibility, allowing them to continue to work and avoid falling behind their careers. Without flexible options, some women may be forced to leave work entirely or reduce working hours, which may worsen gender inequality in the workplace.
Despite strong support from employees for remote and hybrid models, some business leaders remain skeptical. Former M&S president Stuart Rose criticized remote work as “inappropriate job”, while Lord Sugar saw domestic workers as “lazy git.” Others took a more difficult route. Elon Musk banned work at Tesla in 2022, and JP Morgan Boss Jamie Dimon provided five-day office returns to all board directors in 2023, with the report suggesting he could soon extend the rules to all employees.
Meanwhile, British entrepreneur Emma Grede, the co-founder of fashion brands, recently said that work-life balance is a personal issue, not something employers should be responsible for managing. She believes that individuals should have ownership of how to manage their lives outside of work.
However, Professor Chung and his co-authors argue that this view has the potential to ignore the broader benefits of hybrid work for businesses, especially in terms of employee engagement, retention and diversity. “A well-designed hybrid work model brings significant benefits to both employers and employees,” the report concluded.
With work now embedded in homes in much of the UK economy, debates no longer allow remote work but how best to build it for long-term success.
