Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Working from homeHybrid workingCoronavirusLatest NewsPhysical environment

Working at home has led to longer hours

by Ashleigh Webber 13 Aug 2020
by Ashleigh Webber 13 Aug 2020 Shutterstock
Shutterstock

‘Enforced’ working at home has allowed those working remotely on a permanent basis to better connect with their colleagues, but those who normally work in the office report a loss of creative and problem-solving discussions, and many are working for longer than usual.

Several studies published over the past few days have highlighted how widespread home working during the coronavirus pandemic has changed the way office workers interact with each other and schedule their day.

According to one study by academic institutions in the UK and New Zealand including the University of East Anglia and Auckland University of Technology, the “unequal social distributions” that previously existed between office and home workers were removed during the lockdown, as an increase in discussions and social activities being held over Zoom or Microsoft Teams enabled previously “marginalised” home workers to feel closer to their colleagues.

Working from home

Half of workers expect remote working reversal after Covid-19

Working from home will be double pre-pandemic levels

‘Remote conflict’: What happens when teams work from home

Is it really the end of the office?

However, it found that teams that tried to communicate using the same pre-lockdown methods or styles encountered challenges. Group conversations were difficult as multiple people began talking at the same time, while networking  and “mingling” during social activities such as after-work drinks not possible.

Workers had to have scheduled interactions with colleagues, which had an impact on the level of knowledge that was sometimes shared through unplanned discussions. Junior staff with a question or who sought feedback also experienced difficulties in contacting colleagues.

The study found the lack of seamless communications “might result in less efficiency and negative emotions.”

Many of the 29 workers interviewed said virtual meetings and check-ins were too frequent and unnecessary, which affected their wellbeing and productivity. This was particularly pertinent among parents or employees with other caring responsibilities.

“Covid-19 has dramatically shifted affordances, thus requiring a new pattern of communications in terms of the frequency, length, and the style,” the study concluded.

Dr Brad McKenna, an associate professor in UEA’s Norwich Business School, said the situation had created new possibilities for hybrid working arrangements.

“Employers were forced to simultaneously test and embrace a high-trust culture. On the whole, employees proved that they can be trusted in this kind of environment, so that will influence how we work now and in the future,” he said.

Employees were also spending more time on work tasks than before. Another study involving 2,533 office workers found people working from home would undertake an extra month’s work a year, compared with before the pandemic, as they were allocating some of the time previously spent commuting to work.

On average, employees had saved 84 minutes each day by working from home, the study by technology firm Atlas Cloud found. This prompted nearly nine out of 10 office staff to consider working from home in future, but only a quarter wanted to do so full time.

Atlas Cloud chief executive Pete Watson said remote working was a “win-win” for employers and staff.

“The pandemic has transformed the way that Britain’s workers think about the workplace, but it is by no means the death of the traditional office – it is the birth of hybrid working,” he said.

Similar research by NordVPN claimed that UK employees have been adding around two hours to each workday, equating to around an extra week of work per month.

Comparatively, staff in countries including France, Spain and Canada had returned to pre-pandemic work schedules, while those in the US worked around three hours extra per day.

Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today

Browse more human resources jobs

Ashleigh Webber
Ashleigh Webber

Ashleigh is editor at OHW+ and part of the Personnel Today editorial team. Prior to joining Personnel Today in 2018, she covered the road transport sector for Commercial Motor and Motor Transport.

previous post
Dr Martens shows furlough scheme a clean pair of heels
next post
BT Group and Firebrand in virtual apprenticeship push

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

Lack of flexibility pushes half of women to...

16 May 2022

Rees-Mogg under fire from civil service leader over...

13 May 2022

Tesco to pioneer office space in local stores

13 May 2022

Are we happy now? New research Sugar-coats working...

6 May 2022

Alan Sugar calls PwC Friday afternoons off a...

6 May 2022

PwC staff to benefit from extended summer hours...

5 May 2022

Law firm says staff can work from home...

3 May 2022

Employers see hybrid working productivity gains, but want...

26 Apr 2022

Hybrid working: executives returning to office less than...

21 Apr 2022

Businesses plead for free or cheaper Covid-19 tests

19 Apr 2022
  • What it really means to be mentally fit PROMOTED | What is mental fitness...Read more
  • How music can help to ease anxiety at work PROMOTED | A lot has happened since March 2020, hasn’t it?...Read more
  • Why now is the time to plug the unhealthy gap PROMOTED | We’ve all heard the term ‘health is wealth’...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+