A House of Lords committee has called for a more coherent national approach to remote and hybrid work, warning that unclear responsibilities, inconsistent data, gaps in employer guidance and uneven access to flexible work risk undermining the UK’s ability to adapt to long-term changes in working patterns. According to the report, Is Working From Home Working?, published today (13 November) the rapid rise in home-based working since the pandemic has outpaced the Government’s ability to coordinate policy or collect reliable data. Responsibility for remote work is “split across government departments”, the Committee notes, with implications for employment, transport, digital infrastructure and housing policy. (more…)

A new report from Owl Labs suggests that the debate over where people work is being replaced by questions about when they work. The firm’s 2025 State of Hybrid Work report argues that the defining issue in workplace flexibility and hybrid working is now time rather than location. The study, based on a survey of 2,000 US workers, claims that almost half of respondents believe they do not have enough flexibility in their working hours. Thirty seven percent said they would turn down a job that did not provide flexible scheduling, an increase compared to last year. Around a quarter said they would find a four day week more attractive than a traditional arrangement, with many indicating they would be willing to take a pay cut in exchange for greater control over their time. On average, workers said they would give up around eight to nine percent of their salary to secure more flexible hours or a reduced working week. (more…)

Gallup’s latest research on working patterns among remote-capable employees in the United States suggests that hybrid working is proving far more resilient than some headlines about a wholesale return to the office would imply. The data shows that hybrid work remains the dominant arrangement and has not significantly declined, even as political and organisational pressure grows to increase in-person attendance. The survey finds that just over half of employees who can work remotely are now in hybrid arrangements. This represents a slight decline from the previous two quarters, falling from 55 percent to 51 percent. (more…)

Employers are expected to face major implementation hurdles as the government’s new Employment Rights Bill begins to reshape workplace practices. A survey by HR software provider Ciphr suggests that improved access to flexible working is likely to be the most difficult provision to manage. In a poll of 300 HR decision-makers across the UK, 22 percent said that changes to flexible working arrangements—making it the default where practical—would present the biggest challenge in terms of time, resources and cost. Respondents also raised concerns about stronger legal protections for workers involved in industrial action (21 percent) and the extension of the employment tribunal claim window from three to six months (17 percent). (more…)

A growing number of remote workers in the UK are ending their week early on Fridays, according to new data that highlights the shifting rhythms of hybrid working. Figures from Virgin Media show that broadband usage among home workers drops by around 8 percent between 3pm and 5pm on summer Fridays compared with winter, suggesting that many employees are logging off ahead of the traditional end of the working day. (more…)

More than a million UK workers have quit their jobs in the past year due to a lack of flexible working, according to a new poll from the CIPD. The organisation’s latest report highlights a growing tension between employer demands and employee expectations, particularly among younger workers. The survey of 2,000 employers and 5,000 employees suggests that around 3 percent of the workforce left their roles since January 2024 because they were unable to access the flexibility they needed. The findings come more than a year after UK workers gained the legal right to request flexible working from day one. (more…)

A new independent review has sharply criticised the Office for National Statistics (ONS), warning that widespread working from home is undermining the quality of UK economic data, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph. The review, led by Sir Robert Devereux, a former senior civil servant, highlights how current working practices are weakening the agency’s ability to deliver accurate and timely statistics. Despite mounting concerns, many ONS staff continue to work from home full-time, with internal resistance to returning to office-based routines. (more…)

A new study of a large Turkish call centre provides fresh evidence that working from home can improve productivity and workforce diversity — though in-person onboarding remains crucial to long-term success. The research, conducted by economists from King’s College London, Stanford, the Paris School of Economics and the EBRD, examines Tempo BPO, a Turkish business process outsourcing company that moved fully remote in 2020. The authors include well-known remote work researchers Nick Bloom and Steven Davis, alongside Cevat Giray Aksoy, Victoria Marino, and Cem Ozguzel. (more…)