During the Covid pandemic, a number of things have stood out. Firstly, societies around the world have lauded “key workers” in healthcare, logistics, food retail, refuse management, and so on, who have worked throughout the pandemic to keep society functioning, often putting themselves in harm’s way to do so.
Secondly, as millions of office workers have been working from home, tucked away safely from the virus, there has been a groundswell of debate about whether this trend will endure and remote working will finally be a mainstream aspect of working life.
As we investigate what the post-Covid “future of work” might look like, however, it seems to be a conversation held exclusively from the perspective of office-based workers. Indeed, if you listen purely to the commentary around the future of work you might be forgiven for thinking that everyone works in an office and therefore working from home is something that could, and should, be available to us all.
Class divide
That overlooks the fact that many of the “key workers” that have been lauded during the pandemic have not only been working on-site throughout, but are likely to continue doing so as we grapple with what the post-Covid world might look like.
Various studies have shown that low-paid people were significantly more exposed during the pandemic, whether due to the public-facing nature of their work, the poor or often non-existent sick pay included in their package, and the general financial precarity that forces many to keep working even when they or a loved one are unwell. Add in the poor job security that is often an inherent part of these jobs and their physical and mental wellbeing will have taken a buffering during the last 18 months.
Recent research from the University of Nottingham shows the divide in how working people have experienced the pandemic. The researchers remind us that when we focus almost exclusively on those able to work from home, we inevitably ignore that large parts of the workforce haven’t been doing so throughout the pandemic.
Unequal circumstances
The researchers highlight that pre-Covid, just 6% of female workers were working from home full-time, with the figure just 4% for men. This jumped to around a third during the first lockdown. While this seems universal and to justify the hype surrounding remote work, the researchers reveal the clear class divide evident in this switch.
While around half of those in professional and managerial roles said they were working from home full-time during April 2020, and an extra 24% saying they did so regularly, this falls to just 10% of working-class women in semi-routine jobs, such as retail assistants and cleaners, and routine jobs, such as bar staff and bus drivers.
The study also highlighted the divide in how those who were able to work from home experienced it. While those in more professional and senior roles often had a nice home-office setup all ready and waiting, for many, home working was a case of making do on cramped tables or working from their sofa or bed. There were similar divides in terms of the computing tools available to work effectively, especially in areas such as reliable broadband and printing facilities.
Flexible working
Of course, where we work is but one part of flexible working, with flexibility around when we work also something crucial to the autonomy of the modern worker. Alas, the research also shows clear divides in who gets this autonomy, as while some were permitted to fit their work around the increasing responsibilities for home-schooling or caring during Covid, this was not a privilege afforded to all.
So while 38% of those in professional or managerial roles could modify their work times to fit around their lives, just 13% of working-class workers were able to do likewise. This also translated into income, with working-class workers earning the lowest weekly wages of those studied, with far fewer working-class people able to put aside any money in savings from their income or build up any kind of financial safety net. Indeed, as 2020 dragged on, a growing number said they were struggling to get by or in real financial difficulty.
Just as there has been a lot of discussion around the future of work and what the post-Covid landscape might look like, there has also been a lot of discussion about the need for compassionate leadership. If we are to craft a positive post-Covid workplace then it’s important that we understand that what works for one quite possibly won’t work for others.
This is especially so for the millions of workers who were lauded for the vital work they do in helping society continue to function during the pandemic, but who seem to be being completely shut out of any discussions around the “future of work”. This portion of society will be no less vital in the future than they were during the pandemic, so please let’s not forget both their vital contribution but also the extremely challenging circumstances they often have to work in.
