In case we needed any further proof that remote working is now a permanent fixture of modern life, recent data from the Office for National Statistics provided it, says Andrew Lawton.
It regularly asks people across the UK whether they have spent any of the last seven days working from home. Between the end of January and the beginning of February this year, 40 percent said they had.
Would we have seen a response like that before the pandemic? No. In early 2020 the percentage of people working from home in the UK was only about five percent (5%). For many of us, long gone are the days of travelling to work every day of the week. But this data surely dispels any lingering suspicions that things would return to the way they were.
Indeed, since the ONS changed the wording of their question in March 2022, that 40 percent is the joint highest figure recorded.
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Working from home set-ups are not resilient enough
The benefits of this rapid change in working culture, from increased flexibility, saving commuting time, and saving money, are well reported. As are the arguments for enforcing office-first policies. Rather than dwell on that debate again, I want to focus on an issue that is beyond dispute. The fact that for the millions of UK workers who now work from home at least some of the time, their home office set-up is nowhere near as resilient as a traditional office environment.
This poses a risk to workers and their employees, a risk which could have severe personal, commercial, economic and in some cases regulatory consequences.
Take power cuts, for example. They are a reality for millions across the UK. Last year, research we conducted found that two in three UK remote workers had suffered a recent internet or power outage. That equates to an estimated 12 million people. Of that, roughly 5 percent will be doing time-critical or high-value work. That all adds up to potentially 470 million hours a year where any sort of outage would have a severe impact.
The impact on productivity and wellbeing is significant
The combined impact on productivity, and the headache it causes for senior management and IT teams, is potentially enormous. It’s becoming increasingly clear, therefore, that having a reliable work-from-home setup is crucial. Especially as events like severe storms become more frequent. As many people across the UK have found in just the last few weeks, commuting to an office in such conditions is often not a viable option, and for those in critical roles, it’s essential to be able to work regardless of external conditions.
There is a day-to-day human cost here which is important to consider too. During an outage or sudden loss of electricity, employees may also face the anxiety and stress of losing important work progress, critical documents, or the feeling of panic over missing deadlines. This is not a trivial matter; such issues can compound already stressful or busy work situations and genuinely affect wellbeing.
All this means that power and network outages are more than just an inconvenience or a passing irritation; they are a significant threat to businesses and the well-being of home workers across the country.
Unfortunately, the majority of remote workers are not currently set up with an infrastructure that compares to a secure office environment. And this isn’t just an issue for the at-home worker. vulnerable people who may need to work away from the office, individuals providing in-home care, and satellite locations like remote medical centres or construction sites are also impacted. Unfortunately, most of these workers do not have access to power and internet setups comparable to those of traditional office environments.
What can employees do?
There are steps that employees themselves can take. For example, safety measures like ensuring you are constantly backing up your work and keeping your devices fully charged while working, which may help when power outages hit. But even these measures still fail to help with the issue of loss of internet connectivity. This is a critical point, as almost everything we do these days requires a combination of power and internet. Shared folders, video calls, file transfer – the list goes on.
Ultimately, the responsibility now falls upon employers to prepare for the threat of power or internet outages. I would argue that leadership teams and IT departments everywhere should be treating this as a matter of when, not if.
Is it the same for all sectors?
For certain sectors, not being prepared risks potential regulatory censure. Financial services companies in the UK must now demonstrate that they have identified their important business services, and any vulnerabilities in their operational resilience. The threat of internet and power outages to their business continuity and overall resilience should be part of their ongoing assessment.
A home resilience solution is essential for businesses where workers are undertaking time and mission-critical work at home, as well as those who rely on a seamless connection. The good news is there are solutions available on the market today which can boost productivity and wellbeing across the wider hybrid workforce.
Now that working from home is here to stay, it is high time that workers and employers review their power and internet setup, ensuring they’re better prepared for a seamless and productive remote work experience.
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Andrew Lawton is the Founder and CEO of Reskube Ltd.
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
- Amelia Brand
- Amelia Brand
- Amelia Brand
- Amelia Brand
