Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

The inconvenient truth is that working from home can make parents better employees

The inconvenient truth is that working from home can make parents better employees

Firms such as Google are failing to recognise that the flexibility of WFH has made many parents more productive.
Last week, I interviewed Bill Browder, a campaigner against Vladimir Putin’s regime, about his career, the death of his lawyer in a Russian prison and how he is holding the state to account. I then closed my laptop, went into the next room, plopped down on the rocking chair, picked up a copy of the book Mog and read my wriggly two-year-old her bedtime story.

Somewhere between Mog falling asleep on Mrs Thomas’s hat and my daughter doing an impression of her “biggest meow, very sudden and very, very loud”, it struck me. Eighteen months ago, I would have had to choose: interview, or bedtime? Something would have had to give.

The pandemic has taken away a lot. But it’s given us something back, too: post-pandemic, I – and millions of other working parents – can enjoy these special moments. “I saw my little one’s first steps,” replied one new father when I mentioned my observation on Twitter. “I clocked the time, and realised I would have been on my commute and missed it.”

My heart sank this morning when reports indicated that Google is encouraging employees to return to the office from October: the company is said to be considering cutting the salaries of those who work from home permanently, and has even built an internal “pay tool” that allows staff to calculate how much their pay may drop if they choose not to return to the office.

The news comes in the week the government clambered back aboard its “return to the office, or else” high horse. Ministers appear to be trying to lead other employers by example, issuing loose threats about career prospects if civil servants don’t go back to the office.

[See also: Is this the moment for a flexible work revolution?]

“People do build relationships and build networks through face-to-face contact,” business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told Times Radio. “People who come into the office may – I’m not saying they will in all cases – have an advantage in that.”

Sadly for ministers (and Google), remote working is a genie they can’t put back into the bottle. Even after “Freedom Day” on 19 July, when most Covid restrictions were removed, people failed to rush back to their workplaces: data from Remit Consulting published last month indicated that the number of staff in the office was 11.5 per cent at the end of July, up very slightly from the 11.1 per cent before the guidance changed.

A report also published in June, by the office research company Leesman, shows that 83 per cent of employees believe their home environment allows them to work productively, compared with 64 per cent who believe the same of their office. That may be an inconvenient truth for the employers who are leading the charge back to the office.

Anna Whitehouse, a journalist who has been campaigning for flexible working since 2015, wrote on her Instagram: “It feels like a lot of hot air from archaic minds who fear change. They see flexible working as some kind of revolution when it’s actually about evolution in a digital world that is ready and willing to break free from the constraints of the industrial revolution where it was born.”

Work from home isn’t perfect: my little office in my new suburban home in Whitstable, where I moved during the pandemic, can feel claustrophobic. I am lucky to have a whole home, plus a garden – those without the luxury of space, many of whom are still at the start of their careers, are struggling badly.

It can be lonely, too. My husband often works away from home, which means that most weeks, the only adult conversations I have for days at a time are with the women at my child's nursery; the only subject I talk about is the baby – what she had for lunch, new language developments and how many nappies she’s been through that day.

But the fact that I can have the choice to do bedtime, that I’m not rushing to catch a train because nursery is about to start charging for overtime, that I can spend my lunchtimes doing chores so when I get my daughter home it can be her and I, playing together on the floor, right up until story time – I am grateful for the fact my employer trusts me to work at home.

Interestingly, Google’s Silicon Valley neighbours Twitter, Facebook and Salesforce have all doubled down on their flexible working policies. As one Salesforce employee said on Bisnow’s Office Politics podcast: “Employees can say, listen: I just worked from home for a year and I did the best work of my life. So why are you telling me now that I have to come back in?”
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz: “The Current Welfare State Can No Longer Be Financed”
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
Wizz Air passengers screamed as storm-battered flight diverts to Bologna
European postal services halt U.S. deliveries after Trump imposes new tariffs
Urban explorer finds abandoned luxury restaurant left to decay
Fidesz leader labels Péter Magyar a ‘bluffer’ amid escalating political spat
French rope park operator arrested for denying entry to Israeli children
Újpest thrashes Zalaegerszeg 4-1 to secure first win in five matches
Profit-margin cap costs retailers 13 billion forints a month, warns trade group
Curiosity rover finds coral-like rock on Mars hinting at watery past
U.S. green policy rollback drives investors to Europe’s sustainable finance market
Special funerals rise in Hungary: boat, aerial and forest burials gain popularity
Hungary’s Kiskunság region turning into semi-desert after extreme drought
Kopasz Bálint wins world kayak 1000 m title in Milan, making him triple world champion
Budapest’s Keleti railway station to close for four weeks for track overhaul
Balaton could be unfit for swimming by 2035 and dry by 2050, scientists warn
Leaked guidelines show Meta’s AI allowed flirty and racist interactions with children
Filming of ‘Emily in Paris’ halted after assistant director dies on set
Filipino guest workers sue after Hungary moves to deport them for pregnancy
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
×