Hybrid working on the rise as fewer staff work purely from home
23 May 2022, 13:24
New data shows that more than four in 10 employers say their staff are more productive when working from home.
Nearly a third of employees who work from home say there are no disadvantages to doing so, as new data showed an upswing in hybrid working patterns.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also found that 41% of businesses said they are allowing staff to work from home permanently, at least part of the time, because it increases productivity.
Around one in seven working adults in the UK (14%) said they were purely doing their jobs from home offices in late April and early May.
Another 24% said they had adopted hybrid working patterns when they are in an office or other workplace part of the time.
The proportion of people working purely from home has plunged in the last year, as pandemic restrictions were lifted.
But the data suggests that many of these workers have instead picked up hybrid work patterns.
We’ve published an article exploring the views of individuals and businesses on hybrid working now that #COVID19 restrictions have been lifted.
➡️ https://t.co/FV2xkpoFCj pic.twitter.com/jhBI8cnUTu
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) May 23, 2022
The number of hybrid workers has more than doubled compared with a year ago while those who travel into work every day is more or less stable.
Currently 46% of workers say they commute to a workplace every day.
However the ONS said it changed the way it asked some questions in April, so new figures might not be directly comparable with the old.
The data also shows a clear difference between those on different incomes.
Those earning above £40,000 a year were the most likely to be doing hybrid work (38%), while only 8% of people making less than £15,000 a year said the same.
The most common reasons given by businesses using, or planning to use, homeworking permanently were:
▪️ improved staff wellbeing (60%)▪️ reduced overheads (43%) ▪️ increased productivity (41%) pic.twitter.com/BU72MfEYTC
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) May 23, 2022
Staff were most likely to say that the benefits of working from home included improved work-life balance (78%), fewer distractions (53%), completing work faster (52%) and improved wellbeing (47%).
Only 8% said that there were no advantages.
Meanwhile 31% said there were no disadvantages.
Overall 48% of home workers say they find it more difficult to work with others, while 26% said they were more distracted at home.
Among businesses, 60% said their staff wellbeing had improved due to working from home, and other benefits included reduced overhead costs (43%), increased productivity (41%) and reduced carbon emissions (25%).
