Working from home 'will put a strain on relationships,' says caller

27 October 2020, 14:30 | Updated: 27 October 2020, 16:09

Working from home risks putting strain on relationships, says caller

This is the moment a caller told LBC working from home is going to "put a strain" on a lot of people's relationships.

Peter from Hilton made the prediction while talking to LBC's Nick Ferrari about how it's "very difficult to separate the boundaries between home life and work life" if one is working while their wife and children are also in the house.

The exchange comes as the Bank of England's chief economist has warned working from home is damaging Britain’s creative potential and could harm both personal wellbeing and the economy if it continues long after the pandemic has diminished.

Peter, who has mostly worked from home since "the third week of March", spoke to Nick about difficulties him and his partner while both working from home.

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Speaking of him and his wife, the caller told Nick: "We've had it quite a bit where our jobs can be quite stressful."

Peter spoke of how a disagreement with a manager could result in him "then stewing over it in the same four walls with [his] wife and children for the rest of the evening".

He also spoke about how such disagreements had the potential to make someone "lash out verbally [and] emotionally" at their family.

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The caller added: "I think it is going to put a strain on a lot of people's relationships if it hasn't done so already. I just don't think it's a sustainable way of continuing for much longer."

Speaking of the experience of commuting to work, Peter also said: "You've got lots of brilliant things like podcasts, books [and] music you can listen to, and you're escaping from the environment.

"Whereas, if you're at home and you're working at home, you're not escaping from that environment."