Four in 10 workers admit they find working from home a challenge

Four in 10 people who have been working from home during the coronavirus crisis have found it challenging, according to a new survey. 

An Ipsos MORI poll found that of those people who have found being away from the office a struggle, their most common complaint was a lack of an adequate workspace closely followed by missing their colleagues. 

Meanwhile, the survey also revealed that a majority of workers believe it will be up to their employer to decide when they should return rather than it being their own decision. 

The latest numbers came as Boris Johnson prepares to launch a back to work drive next week amid growing fears for the long term future of struggling town and city centres. 

The poll found that 27 per cent of people who have been working from home said it was not at all challenging while 32 per cent said it was not very challenging. 

But 29 per cent said they had found it fairly challenging and just over one in 10 (11 per cent) said it had been very challenging.   

Of those workers who have found it challenging, the main reason cited for their struggles was a lack of suitable workspace at 38 per cent. 

Missing meeting with and working alongside colleagues in person was cited by 36 per cent of respondents.

Other reasons for struggling were a difficulty maintaining a work life balance (34 per cent), unreliable technology and equipment (27 per cent) and being distracted by other people who are at home (24 per cent). 

Mr Johnson’s push to get more workers back into offices will see the PM stress that workplaces and regular commutes are safe. 

But the poll numbers suggest the premier will face an uphill battle to get people back with just 19 per cent of those currently working from home saying they intend to return to their place of work within the next month. 

Approximately a quarter said they expected to be back in the next three months and just over one in 10 (13 per cent) said they expected to return in the New Year. 

Some six per cent of people working from home said they do not intend to return to their place of work.      

On the crunch issue of who should decide when people return – employers or employees – the poll suggests a majority of workers believe it is up to businesses. 

Some 33 per cent of respondents said they will decide when to stop working from home but 55 per cent said their employer will make the decision. 

The Government has said that a return to the office should be the product of a conversation between workers and their employers.  

An estimated one third of the UK workforce is currently working from home, including half of those who normally worked in an office before lockdown. 

Kelly Beaver, managing director of Ipsos MORI said: ‘As companies start looking to return to their offices to some degree our latest research shows that the best way to encourage people to return is emphasising the more collaborative atmosphere of working physically alongside colleagues as well as making it easier, particularly for younger workers, in having a properly set up space to work from.’

The Government is increasingly concerned that continued working from home will deal a hammer blow to struggling town and city centres.

The Prime Minister is expected to step up his efforts next week to get more people back to their normal routines by reassuring the public that ‘the workplace is a safe place’. 

The prospect of a new campaign to encourage commuters to return to their offices will be welcomed by Tory MPs who today warned that businesses in urban centres are facing ‘devastating consequences’ if things do not go back to normal.