Government task force to examine hybrid working post-pandemic
Ministers have formed a task force to draw up advice on flexible working, as Covid-19 restrictions ease and attention turns to the role of the office post-pandemic.
Twenty business groups and trade unions will meet today to begin a review of hybrid working, the Times first reported.
The group will be asked to consider how the government and businesses can support the change to hybrid working, and whether more could be done to promote “ad hoc” flexible working arrangements.
The task force’s membership includes the CBI, the Federation of Small Businesses, Age UK and the Trades Union Congress. Its secretariat will include officials from the business department and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a human resources association.
The flexible working task force was established by Theresa May’s government in 2018 but fell by the wayside and has not met since 2019. However, the pandemic, and the working changes brought about by it, has given it a new lease of life.
With coronavirus cases dropping in the UK and restrictions gradually lifting, attention has turned to what role the office will play in working life post-pandemic.
Some major firms have already made firm decisions on what working life will look like post-Covid restrictions, with many, like consultancy giant PwC, adopting a hybrid model on a permanent basis.
Others have been less receptive to the idea of home working, with Goldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon having labelled working from home an “aberration”.
According to the Times, minister believe that employees who can work flexibly are more likely to be engaged at work, while research by the Behavioural Insight Teams has suggested that job adverts offering flexible work attract 30 per cent more applicants.