With the winding down of covid-19 restrictions across large economies, companies are now encouraging their employees to work from the office or are making plans to do so. It’s easy to understand why. Working together in the workplace benefits company culture, provides greater networking and training opportunities and, as recent Economist Impact research has shown, establishes an important boundary between work and home life - especially for workers in less senior roles. For young people in particular, UK chancellor Rishi Sunak warned last summer that working from home is not as valuable for career progression as going into the office. 

But young employees who opt to work flexibly are not the only ones at risk of missing out. A rush back to the office full time could disadvantage employees who have valued working from home to attend to caring and family responsibilities – in particular, women. 

Dismantling the stigma

The majority of household and familial duties, from child care to housework to caring for elderly relatives, fall to women. The pandemic has offered women the opportunity to devote more time to family matters without being stigmatised for wanting flexibility. Working from home has allowed women to better accommodate their family and household responsibilities with their work lives.

According to research by the Resolution Foundation, double the number of women in relationships with children said that working from home has enabled them to enter into work or increase their working hours than women in relationships without children. In the UK, the proportion of women (particularly mothers) in work rose by 1.8% following the introduction of homeworking, compared with a 1.4% decline in the share of working men. 

But women have also had a hard time working from home and some might be looking forward to a return to the office. As of mid-2020, following the introduction of working from home, less than half the number of women said that they have had a positive remote working experience during the pandemic than men, according to research by McKinsey. There is also some evidence that women in hybrid work arrangements experience higher risk of burnout than those who work remotely or in the office full-time, according to research conducted by Gallup. The fact is that, whether in the office, at home or in between, women will inevitably face challenges if they remain the primary care-giver. 

Flexibility for all 

Women aren’t the only ones who may be nervous about a full return to the office. 

Men are also increasingly likely to quit their job if not offered remote work and prioritise remote working when evaluating new job opportunities. An April 2021 survey by FlexJobs found that over half (52%) of men would resign if they were not allowed to continue working remotely at least part of the time, and seven-in-ten said that remote work options are among their top considerations when looking for a new job. 

According to our research, a flexible hybrid working arrangement is preferred by most people regardless of gender. Both female and male employees who are to be offered a hybrid work arrangement with flexibility over how many days they are expected to work in the office feel that their employer is striking a good balance between returning to the office and working remotely, with over 80% reporting this. 

How can we break the bias?

Before the pandemic, flexible working was stigmatised. Almost a third of the UK’s population believed that flexible working had a negative impact on career progression. The pandemic has helped to normalise flexible working for both men and women. 

But companies must ensure it remains this way. And the best way to do this is to institute policies that provide hybrid working and flexibility for everyone. Otherwise, employees who do not have primary caring responsibilities—often men—could be discouraged from continuing their hybrid work arrangements. For those who do have primary caring responsibilities—often women—a continuation of hybrid working could hinder their careers, especially if their colleagues are in the office.

“Flexible working is here to stay” says Andrew Bazeley, the policy and public affairs manager at the Fawcett Society (the UK's leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women's rights). To break the proximity bias, organisations ought to strive for genuine culture change to combat presenteeism and unconscious bias towards employees with care and family responsibilities—in particular, women. To start to engender such change, leaders could set an example for their teams by opting to work from home on non-mandatory office days; specify that on some days, everyone works from home; and ensure expectations are clear so that employees are not left to decipher unwritten rules. Without such efforts, women risk being “mummy-tracked” and their accomplishments overlooked. 

In a competitive labour market, organisations that fail to ensure that a home office is not an obstacle to progression do so at their peril.