Ex-Asda and M&S boss says remote work is ‘not proper work’
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Former Asda and Marks & Spencer chief executive Lord Stuart Rose has said remote working policies have spawned a generation who are “not doing proper work”. Speaking to BBC One’s Panorama, Lord Rose claimed working from home made people less productive, linking it to the “general decline” of the UK economy.
He said: “We have regressed in this country in terms of working practices, productivity and in terms of the country’s wellbeing, I think, by 20 years in the last four.”. Remote working policies were introduced by most companies during Covid-19 lockdowns, with office employees the most affected by them.
The number of people working from homes more than doubled between late 2019 and early 2022 from 4.7 million to 9.9 million. The most recent official data showed that 28% of the UK workforce is in hybrid work, 13% of people are fully remote and 44% travel to work.
People said they spent more time on rest, exercise and wellbeing when they were able to work some days at home, in responses to the October survey by the Office for National Statistics. But a growing number of companies including Amazon, Boots and JP Morgan have called their employees back to the office full-time in recent months.
Bosses claim face-to-face contact is important for collaboration and being in the office helps their employees get more work done. Lord Rose himself called Asda’s 5,000-strong team of head office workers back to the office for at least three days a week in 2024.
