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Of those currently working from home, a staggering 85 percent want to continue to do so – only going into work one or two days a week. They say they want a better work/life balance with no
stressful and expensive travelling. However, collaborating with colleagues is more of a challenge and some employees are concerned that there are “fewer job opportunities”, according to the
Office for National Statistics. The proportion of people working from home at some point increased by 10 percent in 2020 as Covid-19 hit. More than 37 percent of workers worked away from the
office compared to 27 percent in 2019, according to the ONS. Employees are now beginning to return to offices, with the number working solely from home having dropped from 37 percent to 26
percent since mid-February. But the data suggests that some home working is likely to stay as employers opt for a mix. Sarah Loates, director at Loates HR Consultancy, said: “As we emerge
from the cocoon of lockdown, home working – previously a discretionary benefit – has become a right in the mind of employees.” Nearly one in four businesses plan to increase their use of
home working. In the information and communication industry the figure is 49 percent. People living in London were most likely to report having worked from home in the last week; it was also
most common among the 30 to 49-year age group, where 45 percent work from home. The figures also show that 34 percent of 16 to 29-year olds worked from home in the last seven days, and 32
percent of 50 to 69-year olds. Millions of people across the UK have been forced to stay at home during the pandemic in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus. Around 11.5 million of those
people were put on Government-sponsored furlough. Psychologist Dr Shungu Hilda M’gadzah, said: “The pandemic has forced us into new ways of working and while many businesses recognise that
home working makes sense, the changes are slow. “Many are beginning to adopt hybrid models…The attraction of lower business overheads is forcing businesses to review their ways of working.”
However, around one in 10 staff have been put under pressure to return to work, despite Government guidance encouraging people to work from home where possible, a union said. That number
rises to one in six for disabled workers, according to the Trades Union Congress.