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We would like to extend a huge thank you to theÌý34% of ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº staffÌýwhoÌýcompleted theÌýFuture of WorkÌýonline survey.ÌýÌý

It is clearÌýfrom your responsesÌýthat theÌýlockdown has been challenging: the survey results show that people are missing the atmosphere on campus and have found it more difficult to build relationships with colleagues. Many staff have experienced practical issues with the physical restrictions of working from home with less-than-ideal furniture,ÌýspaceÌýand IT equipment.Ìý

However, working remotely has also broughtÌýsomeÌýpositives for people and the way we work. Overall, colleagues reported that they have found it easier to manage their time andÌýmaintainÌýa balanced work-life blend, including caring responsibilities. Many staff also said they benefit fromÌýcommuting less often and from the positiveÌýfinancial impactÌýof remote working.

Responses from academic, professional services and technical staff were broadly similar, with the exception ofÌýthe proportion of their time each group would like to work from home. WeÌýwere also able toÌýidentifyÌýsomeÌýgroups ofÌýstaffÌýwhoseÌýresponses variedÌýaround the impact of remote workingÌýon theirÌýwork-life blend.ÌýÌý

The survey results, together with institutional and local feedback, will allow us to use what we have learned from working remotely – the good and the bad – to improve how we work in the future.Ìý

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How colleaguesÌýhaveÌýfeltÌýabout lockdown

• ForÌýmost staff (52%)Ìýwork-life blend has improvedÌýsince we moved toÌýpredominantly workingÌýfrom home,ÌýwhileÌýforÌýless than aÌýthirdÌýof usÌýit has got worseÌý(28%).Ìý

• ManyÌýcolleaguesÌýareÌýmissing the social aspect of work the mostÌýand areÌýlooking forward to engaging withÌýcolleaguesÌýand students again.ÌýÌý

• StaffÌýare worried about their mental and physical health,Ìýand someÌýfeel restricted by a lack of space to work comfortably at home.Ìý

WhereÌýthere wereÌýdifferences between different staff groupsÌý

• Teaching Fellows and TutorsÌýhave been most negativelyÌýimpactedÌýby the move toÌýpredominantly workingÌýremotely with over half of this groupÌýindicatingÌýthat their work-life blend has declined since the start of the pandemic (compared to an average score of 28%).ÌýÌý

• Similarly, concerning levels of negative impact were also seen in the responses of our Teaching Assistants, andÌýpostgraduateÌýstudents (48% and 47% respectively).Ìý

• Contracted staff and those in professional services rolesÌýindicatedÌýthat they would prefer to work from home notably more than the average (52%),ÌýindicatingÌýthat they would prefer to work from home for 72% and 58% of theirÌýtimeÌýrespectively.Ìý

• Technical staffÌýindicatedÌýthey wanted to work from home forÌýthe least amount of timeÌýindicating that on average, preferirng to spend only a third of their time working from home.

Where thereÌýweren’tÌýany differences between different staff groupsÌý

• Our results show the gender of the respondent had no effect on remote working preference. MenÌýindicatingÌýan average preference of 52% of their time working from home while the figure for women was 53%.Ìý

• For our disabled staff, there was no significant difference in responses around preferred time to be working from home, with staff preferring an average of 54% of the working week spent working from homeÌý(however, work-life blend had improved for 57% of disabled staff, more than the average of 52%.)Ìý

• There was no significant difference in the preference around home working in staff with dependents compared to those without.ÌýÌý

What changesÌýpeople would like to see

• Over half of suggestions for change made by respondents relate to improving ¹û¶³Ó°Ôºâ€™s approach to flexible working and giving more choice to how often and when we are required to work on site.ÌýÌý

• Other themes raised by respondents included allowing staff to continue to join meetings remotely.

• MostÌý¹û¶³Ó°ÔºÌýstaffÌýwould prefer notÌýto goÌýback toÌýworking on siteÌýfulltime,ÌýindicatingÌýaÌýpreferenceÌýtoÌýcontinueÌýworkingÌýfromÌýhomeÌýforÌý52%Ìýof their timeÌýon average.ÌýÌý

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