Mid-sized businesses shift towards more remote working

Grant Thornton approached 603 firms with an annual turnover of £50 to £500million. Almost half (44 per cent) of the businesses believe that a shift towards more remote working, rather than office based, will be most effective.

Of these, 37 per cent believe that a blended approach, with more time spent working remotely than in an office, will be best for their business, while 7 per cent say that full time remote working will be best for them.

A further 25 per cent believe an even split between office and remote working will work best for their people.

Due to the changing ways of working expected post-pandemic, over half (51 per cent) of the businesses approached also anticipate that their office or workspace will need to be repurposed.

While home working offers many benefits for companies, the same issues featured in their top concerns about employees. These included managing the work of more junior employees (49 per cent ), provision of training (47 per cent), loss of culture (40 per cent) and mental wellbeing (39 per cent).

However, over half of the businesses surveyed also said they have increased their investment in wellbeing over the last year. Three quarters (76 per cent) of those surveyed are set to invest more or the same amount in their employee wellbeing services over the next six months.

Dave Munton, Head of UK Markets and Clients, Grant Thornton UK LLP, commented: “In total, the majority (88 per cent) of the businesses surveyed were in favour of a hybrid approach to working for their people, which proves that a form of remote working will play a much bigger part than ever before in the way we work.

“The discussion now needs to move to how businesses will support this evolution and ensure they adapt effectively, because every person’s job role and personal working style is different; there won’t be a one size fits all approach."