The past few months have ushered in a new wave of working faster than analysts could have predicted. Now, around 49% of the workforce in Britain are working from home according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
As the economy begins to open back up and companies are bringing workers back into the office, a survey from the Business Clean Air Taskforce found that nine out of ten Britons would like to continue working from home at least part of the time.
While there are numerous benefits to working from home, such as cost effectiveness, there could be a negative impact on workers who rely on in-person interactions to do well at work. Additionally, workers could be at risk of overworking themselves and burning out as some companies take advantage of this arrangement.
Without the proper strategy in place, many workers may not have the ability to switch off at the end of the day.
Humans have an innate need for socialization, and those working from home could experience feelings of isolation, which could lead to depression and other mental health problems.
Companies have attempted to combat this by hosting virtual happy hours and similar events, but can this replace the feeling of attending events with colleagues?