Should office workers be able to work from home? Yahoo readers have their say

Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After 72 hours the poll closes and, each Friday, we'll publish and analyse the results, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers.

Amazon has come under fire this week for ordering staff back into the office five days a week.

On Tuesday, the shopping giant told its workers they should return to “the way we were before the onset of Covid". The shopping giant had already made it mandatory for corporate staff to be in the office three days a week in 2023.

The decision has reignited the debate on flexible working and prompted criticism from Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who said workers should be judged “by their output, not whether they are sat at a desk” and also criticised the Conservative Party for “declaring war on people working from home”.

The government wants to make flexible working the default as part of its Employment Rights Bill, which was unveiled in July’s King’s Speech.

Amazon, which has more than 75,000 workers in the UK, said a return to the office full-time will mean more invention and collaboration among staff. Amanda Gearing, senior organiser for GMB, the trade union representing Amazon workers in the UK, said: “This is yet another example of how Amazon has won its reputation as one of the worst employers around.”

She said “record numbers” of staff were joining the union after a ballot of workers at its Coventry site for union recognition failed to reach a majority in July.

Yahoo News UK asked our readers for their thoughts on office employees working from home, here are the results:

Our poll from Monday at midday until midday Thursday asked: 'Should office workers be able to work from home?'

It received 3,689 votes and showed Yahoo readers were fairly evenly split on the issue.

Some 45.94% of voters answered 'yes' to the question, while 49.96% said 'no'. Some 4% were undecided.

Yahoo News UK readers were also asked: How productive do you feel working at home?

This poll received 2,483 votes with the most common vote being 10, indicating many readers felt very strongly about their productivity when working from home. The average strength-of-feeling score on all the votes was 6.06.

A third poll asked: How productive do you feel working at the office?

This poll received 2,170 votes with the most common vote being 10, showing readers felt .........

The average strength-of-feeling score on all the votes was 6.18.

Our original poll article can be found here.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 14% of UK workers worked from home only between May and June 2024.

This was a considerable drop from the 38% who worked solely from home in June 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

The survey found that slightly more than one in four workers (26%) both travelled to work and worked from home.

What Yahoo readers said:

'Stress less and cheaper': Working from home allows me to reduce the ever-increasing costs of commuting, the enormous stress associated with commuting by public transport and save time spent on getting to work. Working from home is stress less and cheaper. (Evelina R, London)

It depends on the job and the industry that you work in. (Greg H, Shropshire)

'For companies that want to innovate and grow, you need your team in the office': It might work for a local authority where the work is just a repetition of the day before but for companies that want to innovate and grow then you need your team in the office where they can bounce ideas and feed of each other. (Warren F, Northampton)

'Manage my home/work balance better': I enjoy the flexibility of being able to work from home 2 days per week as it allows me to manage my home / work balance better. Working from home doesn't mean that I'm less productive, or that I take longer breaks, but it allows me to arrange things like a boiler service, receive parcels, or just hang my washing out while still performing my regular duties. It also allows me to focus on tasks which require a greater amount of concentration which can sometimes be more difficult when working in an open plan office. (Sam R, Kent)

'Almost impossible to work in the office': After years of working from home, I find it almost impossible to work in the office. Too much chatting and distractions make me less productive. Not to mention that you have to find a desk, get your laptop set up, etc. (Andrea R., Glasgow)

Read more of Yahoo UK's Poll of the Week articles