Should office workers be able to work from home? Poll of the week

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 48 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.

The debate over working from home is raging again this week after Amazon told its staff to return to the office despite the government saying flexible hours lead to more productivity.

On Tuesday, Amazon ordered its workers to report to the office five days a week next year, “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.

In a memo to its employees, chief executive Andy Jassy said staff should be in the office permanently from 2 January 2025, outside of extenuating circumstances, such as looking after a sick child or a home emergency.

Amazon's latest move is in stark contrast to the message from the government, which threw its backing behind flexible working this week.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds 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.

Speaking to The Times, Reynolds argued that flexible working contributes to productivity.

“I think where people reach agreement with their employer... it does contribute to productivity, it does contribute to their resilience, their ability to stay working for an employer. The UK has very significant regional inequality. It could play a significant contribution to tackling that."

However, Reynolds did concede there are situations when it is “legitimate to need the workforce in the office”, such as training new employees.

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.

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.

Come back on Friday to read the results and analysis.

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