The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on all areas of our lives. Because of how much of our time is occupied by work, the effects are evident in the job market, where employers had to take measures that at one point seemed radical, only to provide their teams with a safe work environment.
One of those changes was the introduction of hybrid work, which combines the elements of being present at the company’s office and homeworking. To some people, both employers and employees, this idea was far-fetched at first, and when the situation demanded it, no one knew what to expect. How did it play out?
Data and research - Working during the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused two main changes in how people work. It includes primarily the location where work is done and the time in which employees are allowed to perform their duties.
In April 2020, when the first cases of the COVID-19 virus started to appear in the UK, around 47% of people transferred some of their work from the office to their homes, as per the Office for National Statistics, with 86% of them working from home directly due to the pandemic.
At the same time, around 34% of people worked fewer hours than before the pandemic, while around 30% reported working more hours than usual, according to the same report, which shows that the trends brought by the pandemic weren’t always beneficial to employees.
Data and research - Working after the pandemic
The pandemic experienced great fluctuations in intensity, and we witnessed many waves which caused restrictions to come and go. Even though the situation now seems to be stable, the way COVID-19 has impacted employees proved to many that hybrid work, even though once considered inferior to traditional ways of working, can be beneficial to the entire organisation, with over 41% of companies claiming it has improved organisational productivity, according to research conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
The effects of homeworking have been even more positive among employees, with 59% of HR decision-makers reporting that hybrid working has had a positive impact on the well-being of their teams, according to new research by Microsoft and YouGov. The same study also claims that over half of employees would consider leaving their current position if the possibility of remote work was taken away from them, which suggests strong implications for employees who should now focus on providing their potential candidates with this opportunity in order to increase talent retention and reduce turnover rate.
AEL's perspective
At Arthur Employment Law, we believe that the application of hybrid working should be flexible to accommodate the varied needs of employees and allow them to choose between different working systems.
Attending the office and homeworking are characterised by different benefits they can bring to employees. The former enables visibility and allows members of the team to be seen by senior leaders, which can support promotion within the organisation. Flexible work, on the other hand, has the potential to ensure that people who might not be able to work full-time can still become a part of the team. This, in turn, ensures a diverse workforce and allows employees of different groups and demographics to contribute to the organisation.
One thing to remember for employers who decide to introduce homeworking in their organisations is the need to support those unable to attend the office and make them feel included, despite their lack of physical presence.
To facilitate homeworking, AEL supports the 7 strategies for success in hybrid work outlined by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
