One in ten businesses see staff quit over office working demands
The research by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) found that 9 per cent had lost staff because of a failure to offer remote working.
The survey of 583 businesses between April and May also found that 48 per cent expect staff back in the office full-time over the next year. Employers are increasingly turning against working from home in a bid to boost workers' productivity, the BCC said.
Some 41 per cent of employers thought remote working made employees less productive.
Jane Gratton, the BCC's director of public policy, said the budget had 'ramped up employment costs' and led to businesses looking at how to increase productivity. She said: 'In some cases firms are saying we need to bring people back to the office to reach the levels we want to achieve.'
Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has pushed through reforms to workers' rights, which include the right to request flexible working. Under the changes, bosses have to accept flexible working requests except where 'it is not reasonably feasible' and must provide a justification.
Ministers have insisted that there are 'real economic benefits' to more flexible working and that the legal right will help productivity and the 'resilience' of staff.
• Legal right to work from home will boost productivity, says Labour
But experts said Labour's increase in employers' national insurance contributions at the budget in October had prompted more demands from businesses for in-person working.
According to the BCC, manufacturers and customer-facing companies have consistently preferred staff in their premises rather than at homes and are particularly likely to think remote working is bad for their business.
Gratton said: 'We're seeing a clear shift towards more firms requiring full onsite working, but it's by no means a uniform picture.'
She said some companies had found that fully remote jobs were bad for the business and the employee, with less chance to share ideas and less oversight of how employees are coping under pressure. She also said that companies worried about employee development without young workers shadowing on-site senior colleagues.
But not all companies favour a return to strict working rules, with many saying they remained open to flexible arrangements that were not fully remote, such as altered working hours or job shares.
Gratton said: 'The pandemic reset how and where people worked, and employment models adjusted. It's taken time for businesses to assess the impact of those working patterns.'
A government spokesman said: 'Flexible working can help people achieve a better work life balance, which can lead to healthier and more productive employees, and that's why we've committed to this through our Employment Rights Bill.
'Flexible working extends beyond just home and hybrid working arrangements. It is down to businesses and the employee to determine working arrangements that suit their respective needs.'
In 2023 a similar survey found that less than 30 per cent of businesses expected their workforce to be in the office full-time over the next five years.
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