There are few occasions when I have found myself in agreement with government minister Jacob Rees-Mogg.
But his determined call to get civil servants back into the office is the right one.
In Whitehall and Town Halls, the public sector has failed to get back into offices, and the negative results of that can be seen in the passport office, DVLA, and planning departments up and down the country. I’m sure many other services are being impacted too.
This is not to mention the huge hit city and town centre economies, and our public transport networks, take when thousands of workers feel entitled to ‘work’ from home.
The arguments about productivity, communication, culture, and mentoring are well rehearsed as far as this debate is concerned. But too often overlooked is the growing gap between white collar and blue-collar staff.
If you are a refuse collector, a care worker, or a hospital porter, you don’t have the option of working from home.
A hybrid approach, with 3-4 days in the office – is being widely implemented by the majority of SMEs now. I expect the bigger corporates to follow suit in 2023. But the public sector should be leading the way. Let’s hope Rees-Moggs campaign is a successful one.
