Posted 10 Dec. 2022 at 04:13 PM
“The UK’s competitiveness crumbles to dust under the diktat of flexible working.” The report is without concession, and it emanates from the second fortune of the United Kingdom. In a column published by « The Times » the eponymous owner of the home appliance brand James Dyson has said the UK government’s increased work flexibility is “self-defeating” for the UK.
Telecommuting has spread widely since the Covid-19 pandemic. Wanting to go further, the British government plans to increase flexibility at work in particular to help employees “to reconcile their work and their personal life” in particular those who “take care of children or vulnerable people”.
According to the reform carried out by the British executive, employees will be able to request easier access to telework, but also to jobs shared between several employees or with flexible hours. Employers will not be obliged to accept, but they will have an obligation to explore the options available with their employees.
Less competitiveness or more skills?
However, for James Dyson, working from home “ prevents cooperation and the face-to-face training we need to develop new technologies and maintain our competitiveness”. “There is no reason to complicate the law further: companies for which working from home is suitable can already offer it if they wish,” he says once more.
These statements come as many companies, particularly in Britain’s powerful financial sector, struggle to bring their employees back in their premises. “Managers of many large companies ask employees to come into the office a certain number of days a week, (but) in practice they are ignored”, according to a study published at the end of November by the London School of Economics (LSE) and the organization Women in Banking and Finance.
“Companies that adopt a ‘work from home first’ approach […] are those that can attract and retain the most diverse talents, especially women “, noted Grace Lordan, author of the study. Those “who demand that their employees be in the office for no reason will lose” skills, she added. And the debate has only just begun.
