Why Amazon’s CEO is wrong to demand everybody gets back to the office

The pandemic changed the way millions of us work. Overnight, people found themselves perched in front of a laptop, often propped atop some wobbly old table. Workers used to waving goodbye to the family and heading off to the station for the 9-to-5 were suddenly forced to compete for space, and internet bandwidth, with the remotely-schooled kids.

Some four years on from the life-changing impact of lockdown and the children may have returned to the classroom, the broadband is likely to have been given a boost, and most of us are out connecting with the real world again, yet, for millions of folks, working from home is the new normal.

Recently, however, many bosses have been keen to see staff get back to the old ways. Last week saw Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy demand that corporate employees return to the office five days a week, starting from January. The tech giant argues that its workers will be able to better “invent, collaborate, and be connected”.

Millions of Brits have found themselves continuing to work from home post-pandemic.

And it may have a point. A study by Microsoft looked at the emails, calendars, instant messages and calls of more than 60,000 of its employees in the US during the early stages of the pandemic. It found that workers built fewer “bridges” between different networks, while there was a drop in communication occurring in real time - the conclusion being that remote working is no substitute for the face–to-face, in-person meeting.

Other studies into home working examining the impact on productivity levels have been less conclusive. A 2020 survey of 1,000 senior decision-makers by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that about a third struggled with “reduced staff interaction and cooperation”. Yet, more than 40 per cent of the managers said there was greater collaboration when people were working from home.

Many workers have adopted a hybrid approach, working perhaps one or two days in the office, but those companies looking at a full five-day return are likely to face an uphill battle.

One of the biggest obstacles could be physical space, or a lack of. The Covid crisis saw firms review their property requirements, resulting in not only downsizings but relocations, making it challenging and costly for many workers to travel to the new, relocated workplace. Electric car maker Tesla also requires employees to be in the office full time, leading to reports of problems finding space for those workers.

Nikki Slowey and Lisa Gallagher, co-founders and directors of Glasgow-based Flexibility Works.

The impact on town and city centres from the switch in working patterns has been all too clear to see. Glasgow, for example, had been heavily reliant on post-work socialising to support city centre bars and restaurants, and the fallout from losing that weekday trade has devastated the hospitality sector. On the flip side, local businesses in some commuter hotspots and suburbs have seen their takings rise as home workers nip out for a sandwich or coffee.

This dichotomy extends to the impact on health and wellbeing from home working. Some studies suggest an improvement to physical health from working at home, with people finding more time for walking and exercising, while others disagree. The same goes for mental health.

The profound shift in working patterns brought about by the pandemic shows no sign of being reversed. New research reveals that nearly half (49 per cent) of the UK population say that they work two or more days a week from home. One in three (33 per cent) say that Covid led to a permanent increase in the amount of time they spend working remotely.

Tellingly, the research from The Green Insurer finds that only 12 per cent of Brits who currently work at home would welcome a move back into the office. One in five (20 per cent) would resign if their employer announced they could no longer work from home for at least some of the week.

The study also highlights the positive effect that remote and flexible working has had on the environment, something that should not be underplayed amid the drive to net zero. Paul Baxter, chief executive at The Green Insurer, says the shift “spells good news for the environment with a substantial decrease in the number of vehicles on the road”.

The push by some bosses to get their workers back to the old routine comes just as the new Labour government at Westminster pushes for rights to flexible working - including working from home - to be strengthened. Business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds has argued that employers “need to judge people on outcomes and not a culture of presenteeism”.

Labour’s bill will include measures such as a right to “disconnect” outside working hours and allowing workers to compress their contracted hours into fewer working days. Business groups have raised concerns about the proposals.

Nikki Slowey, co-founder and director of Flexibility Works, a social business that supports employers to offer more flexible working, says hybrid and home working remain “really popular” with workers and employers alike.

“Our own research shows 40 per cent of Scottish workers use some home and hybrid working and this looks stable. We don’t expect it to drop off,” she says. “Some high-profile organisations are tightening their rules around how many days people should be in the office, and we’re concerned this is arbitrary rather than based on any real evidence.

“We know that when people are in the office doing tasks they could easily do from home, they get frustrated and are more likely to leave, so more rigid policies based on nothing more than senior managers’ personal preferences could backfire.”

Alan Grant: Protecting flexible working is the front line in modern workers' rights