Ex-Asda and M&S boss says remote work is ‘not proper work’

Former Asda and Marks & Spencer chief executive Lord Stuart Rose has said remote working policies have spawned a generation who are “not doing proper work”.

Speaking to BBC One’s Panorama, Lord Rose claimed working from home makes people less productive, linking it to the “general decline” of the UK economy.

He said: “We have regressed in this country in terms of working practices, productivity and in terms of the country’s wellbeing, I think, by 20 years in the last four.”

Remote working policies were introduced by most companies during Covid-19 lockdowns, with office employees the most affected by them.

The number of people working from home more than doubled between late 2019 and early 2022, from 4.7 million to 9.9 million.

The most recent official data showed that 28% of the UK workforce is in hybrid work, 13% of people are fully remote and 44% travel to work.

In responses to the October survey by the Office for National Statistics, people said they spend more time on rest, exercise and wellbeing when they are able to work some days at home.

But a growing number of companies, including Amazon, Boots and JP Morgan, have called their employees back to the office full-time in recent months.

Bosses claim face-to-face contact is important for collaboration and being in the office helps their employees get more work done.

Rebecca Florisson, principal analyst at Lancaster University’s Work Foundation, said the recent push to get people back in the office full-time is “unhelpful, and risks undoing some of the gains that have been made in this area since the pandemic”.

“For many workers, remote work is not a ‘nice to have’ but a key element to their ability to get into and remain in work,” she said.

“Given the Government’s aim to support more workers into the workforce and grow the economy, access to flexible working is a key lever to achieve this.

“Disabled workers have indicated that working from home allows them to better manage their condition and report maintained or improved productivity.”

The Labour Government is changing the law to give workers the right to work more flexibly, with a new Employment Rights Bill which would make hybrid working an option for all unless their employer can prove it is unreasonable.

Caroline Gleeson, chief executive of Occupop, a recruitment software firm, said hybrid work policies could help companies attract top talent.

She said “more talent will be attracted to those positions” offering flexible working.

“It isn’t just that they may feel more productive working in a more comfortable and familiar environment but it can help to prevent burnout and improve worker retention,” she added.

Lord Rose himself called Asda’s 5,000-strong team of head office workers back to the office for at least three days a week in 2024.

A biography of the former chief on Asda’s website says: “Stuart appears to have no hobbies apart from work and has a dog called Bruce.”

Lord Rose’s comments come after he called for a predominant return to the office in 2022, when he said he is “an unreconstructed get-back-to-work man”.

“I think people are more productive in the office, but we have to be flexible. We have to understand some people have particular needs and worries, and concerns and health issues,” he said then.