Ex-Asda and M&S boss says working from home is ‘not doing proper work’

A former retail boss in charge of Asda and Marks & Spencer has raised eyebrows amongst the 41% of the UK workforce who work from home at least some of the time.

Lord Stuart Rose has blamed the ‘general decline’ of the UK economy on people working remotely, as the number more than doubled to nearly 10million people thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

He reckons working from home makes people less productive and says remote working policies, many brought in during the Covid-19 lockdowns, have created a generation who are ‘not doing proper work’.

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.

People said they spent more time on rest, exercise and wellbeing when they were able to work some days at home, in responses to the October survey by the Office for National Statistics.

But these figures don’t specify whether those activities take place during work hours or outside of them – as workers have more free time if they no longer need to commute to their place of work.

Lord Stuart Rose says remote working policies have spawned a generation who are ‘not doing proper work’ (Picture: Lucy North/PA Wire)

Speaking to BBC Panorama, Lord Rose 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.’

There’s an increasing number of big companies, including Amazon, Boots and JP Morgan, bringing their employees back into the office full time.

Last year, while he was still in charge at Asda, Lord Rose brought the company’s 5,000 head office workers back into the office for at least three days a week.

And back in 2022, as the UK exited coronavirus lockdowns, he called himself ‘an unreconstructed get-back-to-work’ man, adding: ‘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.’

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.’

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.

Studies have shown hybrid workers feel up to 74% more productive while working at home – and almost half (47%) of UK employees would look for a new job if their flexible working arrangements were revoked, Training Journal reports.

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