‘It didn’t come as a surprise’: UK workers on being forced back into the office
Share:
Some welcome cuts to hybrid working but others feel less productive and are considering change of job or country. Post-Christmas blues as UK bosses try to turn back clock on hybrid working. Christina says it is a “logistical nightmare” working out the school and nursery runs after being ordered to return to the office for three days a week from January. “It didn’t come as a surprise but it was devastating,” she says.
![[Rachel Obordo]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/09/Rachel_Obordo,_L.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The 34-year-old chartered accountant from Scotland was told by her employer that office attendance would be “strictly enforced” in the new year with days potentially increasing based on business need. Her husband, who works in finance, was already working three days in the office after it was mandated in October.
![[Kerstin from Cornwall]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cf567ae811066996848cd2e990a2b277de110476/0_412_3696_4619/master/3696.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Christina is one of scores of people who shared with the Guardian how they felt about bosses reducing the time they spend working from home. Some large businesses have been calling workers to return to their desks as much as five days a week with Asda planning to “cut hybrid working as part of a business restructure”.
Travelling an hour each way on the train, Christina is concerned about the increased cost of commuting, which she expects will be about £6,000 a year for the couple – roughly three months’ worth of one of their salaries. “We’re going to struggle financially,” she says. “It’s not like our employers are going to give us a pay rise to cover the additional costs.”.
Working remotely gives the couple the flexibility to drop their children off and then work through lunch or in the evening after the children have gone to bed. As the lower earner, Christina is considering working part-time. “We chose to have a family to spend time together as one, not to have them raised by strangers,” she says.
