UK remote work jumps 203% in volume

Demand for remote workers in Britain tripled over the course of 2020 as businesses grew more willing to let staff work from home during the coronavirus pandemic, figures from a recruitment consultancy showed on Monday.

Numerous businesses including Facebook, Hitachi, Unilever and Lloyds Banking Group have announced plans to make home working a standard practice  in the longer term for many of their employees.

Some 80,700 jobs that allowed remote working were advertised in November, up 203 per cent from 26,600 in November 2019, recruiters New Street Consulting Group said, based on industry data provided by analysts Emsi.

Official data showed 547,000 job vacancies in Britain in the three months to November, down almost a third on a year earlier.

Last year, a study found recruiters were 20 per cent more likely to list flexible working options when prompted to do so  when posting a job on Indeed, and their adverts attracted 30 per cent more applications than those that did not mention flexible working.

A recent KPMG report suggested the loss of commuters could cost up to 400,000 retail jobs.