UK workers say no to going back to the office – here’s what to expect for remote working going forward
A new study shows less than half of UK workers would comply with a full-time return-to-office mandate, with women and some parents showing the strongest resistance to employer demands for in-person attendance.
The study, which was conducted by researchers at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London and King’s Business School, is based on over a million observations from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), and 50,000 responses from the Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes UK (SWAA).
The research shows growing worker resistance to rigid office mandates:
- 42% of workers say they would comply with a five-day return-to-office requirement, down from 54% in early 2022;
- From early 2022 to the second quarter of 2024, the proportion of workers saying they would look for a new job with homeworking opportunities if their current employer tried to make them return to the office full-time rose from 40% to 50%.
- Similarly, over the same period, the share of workers saying they would quit straight away if forced to go in five days a week doubled from 5% to 10%;
- Overall, 58% of workers now say they would either quit immediately (9%) or start looking for a new job (49%) if required to return full-time.
The data shows parents have particularly shown growing opposition to full-time office requirements. Just one in three (33%) mothers with young children say they would comply with full-time office mandates.
However, there is also evidence to show that employers are less likely to allow fully remote working, with a slight increase in the number of homeworking policies that permit staff to only work from home one to two days per week.
One in four (25%) workers report working remotely at least three or more days a week, while two in five (40%) work remotely at least once weekly.
The study recommends that organisations frame flexibility as a long-term business strategy rather than a temporary perk, emphasising that hybrid and remote working have become baseline expectations in the modern labour market.
“An increasing amount of research shows that well-designed hybrid working models offer significant benefits for both employers and employees,” said Heejung Chung, Professor of Work and Employment and Director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, and lead author of the report.
“Alongside this, there has been a marked shift in attitudes, with workers now seeing flexibility as the norm. Managers need to understand and adapt to this new reality. “
Rather than forcing a return to pre-pandemic working patterns, organisations should be looking to formalise hybrid models, invest in remote collaboration tools, and set up coordinated in-office days to maximise engagement, Chung said.
“Where possible, workers should feel emboldened to hold their ground in the face of return-to-office mandates, as the weight of the evidence demonstrating remote working does not harm productivity is growing.
“In fact, many studies are finding flexible workers tend to work longer and harder compared to those who do not work flexibly, and importantly, those who are able to work remotely tend to be more loyal and committed to their jobs.”
