Working from home ‘has not boosted towns outside London'
Working from home has not boosted towns outside of London, research suggests.
A study involving nearly 50,000 people found that nearly half of Britain's workforce now spends some time working remotely, but the majority have hybrid working patterns that still require some office time. As a result, most have remained living close to their workplaces.
It had been hoped that home working might reduce regional inequality by allowing people to move away from South East England, taking high salaries to less affluent and more remote areas.
But the new report from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Centre for Population Change suggests it has done little to close the divide between the richest and poorest regions.
Prof Jackie Wahba, an economics expert from the University of Southampton and the ESRC centre, said: 'It was widely believed that working from home would let high-skilled workers move further from their employers, opening up opportunities for less wealthy areas.
'But so far, it remains most common among higher earners in a few sectors, mostly near London and other major cities.'
She added: 'Working from home isn't yet bridging the gap between regions. Policymakers, businesses, and local leaders need to act to ensure that job flexibility does not exacerbate inequality but is harnessed to support real, long-term regional growth.'
Working from home surged since the Covid pandemic, especially among older, high-skilled professionals in and around London and other major cities.
The UK has previously been dubbed the working-from-home capital of Europe, with British workers spending an average of 1.5 days a week at home, according to data from the Ifo Institute, a German economic think tank.
It is significantly more than workers in Germany, who average one day per week from home, and in France, where the average for employees is 0.6 days.
The new findings show that 52 per cent of UK employees never work from home. Among high-skilled workers the figure is just 29 per cent.
However, the majority of those who work from home do so in a hybrid pattern, with at least some days spent in the office.
The researchers analysed data from the Institute for Social and Economic Research's UK Household Longitudinal Study and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Labour Force Survey. They also interviewed local government staff, as well as those working for businesses and universities.
The team found that when high-skilled workers changed where they lived, their housing needs tended to be the driver, rather than jobs.
The findings suggest that the idea that working from home will allow lagging regions to attract high earners has yet to materialise and may not be realised at all.
Prof Wahba said working from home 'could offer major benefits, giving both employers and workers more choice and flexibility. But to achieve this, we must tackle key obstacles to residential mobility.'
She added: 'There is little evidence on the net economic impact for local areas of these changes in working patterns.'
Interviewees in the study highlighted advantages of working from home, including being able to apply for jobs in more areas, more efficient use of office space and the ability to attract workers to their regions because of lower living costs.
However, they raised concerns about quieter city centres, weaker workplace culture and the limited ability to work from home in many sectors.
Many companies are now trying to entice workers back to the office. In 2021, a decade-long ONS study found that employees who mainly worked from home were 39 per cent less likely to receive a bonus.
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