Now that the dust has settled after the GE, many companies across the insurance, insurtech and software services sectors will be looking to recruit staff. Should they offer hybrid working, with say 3 days in an office each week, or full remote if the job can be done from a laptop with a secure connection?
Tough choices, as many workers now feel since the pandemic they are entitled to ask for home working as part of their life-balance. This research suggests that some employers are pushing harder now for office based jobs to be full-time at an office location. But Labour’s new government may well strengthen the right to home working in lieu of pay rises across the public sector this autumn.
There’s no way Chancellor Reeves can offer doctors, NHS workers and other public sector unions huge `reparations’ pay rises after 14 years of Tory austerity. Forget 35%, offers of 8-9% will be the best Labour can offer this winter. So a sweetener like the right to demand home working, for at least half your hours, could be used to head off industrial action.
That may have a knock on effect in the private sector as employees jump ship for a cushier life in the public, charity, quango and NGO sectors. In that scenario private companies will be forced to compete, offering flexi-hours working packages and perks like private healthcare, dentistry, childcare vouchers etc so employees can tolerate being monitored in the office each day.
Here’s the word;
Remote and hybrid jobs are becoming more and more uncommon as employers are pushing for their staff to return to the office, new figures suggest. Research conducted by CMD Recruitment found that the percentage of employees working remotely has fallen to 14% in June 2024, compared to 38% in June 2020, according to the Office of National Statistics. It was also revealed that 90% of employers intend to enforce return to office mandates in 2024 – and that figure includes the 51% that have already done so.
Dan Barfoot, Operations Manager at CMD Recruitment, claims that this change in trend is due to employers attempting to create a work environment to address inefficiencies and to enhance cognitive working and employee engagement within the brand and team environment.
He said: “There’s a definite change in the landscape regarding remote work. Companies are pushing for a return to the office, reducing previously available remote or hybrid options. I think this is a shock to many who have worked remotely for the past few years.”
He claims that this shift is driven by the fact companies are finding it difficult to work together as a team collaboratively.
Dan added: “It appears that some companies have over recruited and are discovering that the easiest way to accurately monitor staff performance is if they are on site in a work environment.
“With so many people turning to remote working during the Coronavirus pandemic, it also seems that employees have changed their lifestyles to suit working from home. With this in mind, employers offering remote working are often having to adapt the available role to the new candidate’s demands and routines.”
As of January 2024, LinkedIn reported twice the number of applications to remote roles than there were remote roles available. The platform also revealed that only 9% of job postings last month were fully remote, with remote postings down 23% from this time last year. CMD Recruitment is a leading recruitment agency specialising in the South West. They offer a wide range of services to help businesses find the right talent. As the company approaches the end of Q2 for 2024, experts at CMD Recruitment have concluded that the upcoming election has also had a considerable impact on recruitment.
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