Is home-working under threat from the perks of office life?

After the huge rise in home-working following the Covid-19 pandemic, some businesses are pushing back, reports BBC Politics East.

About 37% of employees in the UK regularly work from home compared to 4.7% a decade ago.

In the East of England, the Office for National Statistics says about 32% of people work remotely.

A 2026 report from the London School of Economics found that while many firms benefit from this arrangement, others experience productivity losses due to communication difficulties and weaker collaboration.

The report argued outcomes depended heavily on how firms organised remote work. But some companies are now insisting staff return to the office.

Paul Hamilton, the founder of Ipswich-based global software company Halo, says he is a "firm believer" in office work being "a great thing".

"We find that knowledge transfer happens so much quicker with staff bumping into each other at the water cooler - conversations you have that you would never have had during virtual calls," he explains.

"There is so much research to show that it is good for your mental health.

"From our point of view, our revenue has grown 100 times in the last six years. I believe [it is] because of our agility."

Hamilton says when recruiting, candidates are told he expects them in the office.

He suggests having people in the building benefits the towns where they are based, adding: "I have seen first-hand the impact for town centres and local economies."

Izzy Pike, 23, recently joined Halo and says she much prefers working from the office.

"I previously worked from home and I just felt so isolated and found it really hard to find support," she says.

"I still live with my parents, so working at home for me meant working in my bedroom."

She finds being in the office is a breath of fresh air and no longer wants to work remotely.

A more flexible approach is taken by global facilities management firm OCS, which is based in Ipswich.

Sophie Ransome, its human resources director for the UK and Ireland, says staff can benefit from a hybrid working arrangement.

Her firm saw the Covid lockdown "as a real shift in the landscape" where people re-evaluated their lives, both in and out of work.

"We had some colleagues who were able to work from home successfully during the pandemic and so they wanted to continue that," Ransome says.

Other colleagues, however, wanted to work in the office.

Ransome says it is important all staff feel "connected" to their work, regardless of where they are based - otherwise "you could still feel isolated working in an office".

After demand for garden offices grew during the pandemic, David Sinnet decided to set up a business that builds them.

He has seen first-hand how important working from home has been to people.

"We can enjoy the lifestyle benefits of being closer to your family and there is less commuting," says Sinnet, who runs his Life Plus Works firm in Saffron Walden, Essex.

"I think there's a lot to be said of working from home. It's part of the conversation about a work and life balance.

"Most people I work with want an element of working from home."

The government says it is making changes "to make it more likely that flexible working requests are accepted", through the Employment Rights Act.

Speaking on BBC Politics East, Emily Darlington, the Labour MP for Milton Keynes Central, said: "It has to be an individual choice for companies and individuals."

She added: "We keep saying we want more people with disabilities to be able to access work and that may be the only way they can."

Marie Goldman, the Liberal Democrat MP for Chelmsford, agreed: "Travel can be really difficult [for some disabled people] and being in a busy office might be really distracting and mean they're not very productive."

But James Wild, the Conservative MP for North West Norfolk, said while there were some benefits from home working, he worried about productivity.

"I have constituents who have difficulty getting responses from those who are working from home," he explained.

Nationally, Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, has said human beings are "generally more productive" when working together in-person.

BBC Politics East will be broadcast on Sunday 12 January at 10:00 GMT on BBC One in the East of England, and will be available after broadcast on BBC iPlayer.

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