The rise in working from home has helped to tackle workplace stress, but there's still a long way to go.
According to a recent BBC article, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that there has been a 74% increase in people working from home in the 10 years from 2008 to 2018.
The fact that there has been an increase should come as no surprise. Many employers are using flexible and agile working, such as working from home, to improve employee wellbeing and work- life balance.
Technology plays a big part in facilitating these modern work practices. But is this increased use of technology and modern working practices actually having a negative impact on employees’ wellbeing and their productivity?
Whilst working from home can assist in people’s work life balance there is concern that together with a general increased reliance on emails, instant messaging and other social media it is leading to a lack of human interaction; something that has the potential to decrease even further with the projected increase in workplace automation.
This lack of interaction can cause employees to feel stressed and isolated. This is something about which the mental health charity Mind is aware, stating in the BBC article that, “Home workers don’t always have the same opportunities to connect with people as their office- based colleagues.” Others struggle with their work life balance when working from home with an interviewee for the recent BBC article stating that he “struggled to switch off when he was based solely at home.” To counteract the negative impact of remote working some people are choosing to work in co-working spaces alongside others.
While home working may not suit everybody, the BBC article reveals that a recent survey of remote workers by the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self- employed (IPSE) found that “a third of workers felt more productive at home than in an office” and a contributor to the recent BBC article stated that working from home was “good for [her] overall wellbeing and a work-life balance.”
As Kate suggests in her blog we can take inspiration from other countries on how to reduce the negative impact of flexibility and technology on our mental health. For example, France has had a 35 hour working week in place since 1999 but there was a growing perception that that had come under threat from smartphones and the sense that if you don’t unplug you are permanently at work. As a result, a labour agreement has been implemented which requires employers of more than 50 people to ensure that their staff “disconnect” outside of working hours.
Other ideas have also been introduced to improve work- life balance and control the impact of technology. Unsurprisingly, the solutions often involve technology such as those mentioned in Kate’s blog, e.g. “work can wait” software, enforced switching off of emails during holidays, and email servers like at VW in Germany, that stop sending staff their emails half an hour after they are meant to have stopped work.
These forms of technology can apply to office- based and remote/ home- working in equal measure and may go some way to improve mental health and work life balance.
Employers are also using technology, including apps, to assist employees with mental- health issues, such as stress. Whilst this appeals to some employees it doesn’t suit everybody and could, in fact, exacerbate the very issue it is trying to help.
With the rise in the gig economy and increased automation in the workplace the impact of modern working practices and technology shows no sign of slowing the challenge facing employers is to use these developments to limit workplace stress (wherever that workplace may be) and even go as far as to enhance employee wellbeing.
For more information on the topic please contact Sue McKenzie or a member of our Employment team.
