More British workers are saying no to working in-person

With the seemingly endless list of benefits of remote working, it’s understandable why remote work has doubled in popularity in just 3 years.

Ask one of the thousands of British employees who works hybrid if they are satisfied, and they will probably tell you they are. But if you ask that same worker if they want to spend more time in office, you can expect to hear a firm, “No.”

 

It turns out that while most UK businesses have embraced hybrid offices and other forms of flexible working arrangements, British workers would still prefer to spend less time in office if given the choice.

This is according to a study conducted by corporate travel management company TravelPerk, and it comes as no surprise considering the extent to which working from home has taken hold amongst the UK workforce.

In fact, nearly half of Britain’s businesses that were working fully in-office before the pandemic are no longer doing so.

At the same time, the popularity of remote work in Britain has nearly doubled accordingly.

 

Who wants more office time? Not Brits!

One only need enter a quick Google search to find dozens of articles showcasing the many benefits of remote work for both employees and employers.

The proven benefits of remote work far outweigh its challenges, making it no surprise that most employees would rather not kiss those perks like better work-life balance and no more commuting goodbye.

Unlike in the USA, most British companies are not grappling with their staff to force everyone to return to the pre-pandemic ways of working.

But still, many UK workers said they would like more flexibility from their employers, according to TravelPerk’s survey.

“Employees have mixed feelings about the number of days they are required to go into the office,” the firm said in a report summarising its findings.

“Although 42 per cent say they wouldn’t change anything about their current working arrangements, 30 per cent say they would ideally prefer more flexibility.

“Twenty-three per cent say they would prefer to go to the office less.”

In comparison, just three per cent said they would want to spend more time in office, clearly not winning the popularity vote anytime soon.

 

Full-time remote work is way up, but not on top…yet

Despite how eager many British workers are to spend more time working from home, the number of hybrid jobs still outpaces fully remote positions.

TravelPerk found that just under half of its survey’s respondents said their companies switched to hybrid work since the pandemic began.

There was also a 10 per cent increase in the number of businesses offering flexible work.

On the other hand, fully remote jobs stood at just eight per cent overall. Although, this is still a huge jump from the four per cent figure of 2019.

If nothing else, this data shows that at least some form of remote work is here to stay for good, and it could even increase if British workers keep up the strong demand.

Find the latest remote jobs in the UK via RemoteWorker.co.uk.