Stuart Rose, the former head of Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LSE:MKS) and Asda, has slammed working-from-home culture, saying it has meant a generation of people “not doing proper work”.
Rose, who was chief executive of M&S for six years until 2011 and then executive chair of its supermarket rival Asda until November, told the BBC that WFH had harmed the UK’s productivity.
“We have regressed in this country in terms of working practices, productivity and in terms of the country’s wellbeing, I think, by 20 years in the last four.”
People working from home doubled between December 2019 and March 2022 to 9.9 million due to the pandemic, but few, especially office workers, have fully returned.
US-headquartered companies including JP Morgan and Amazon have told staff they must attend work in person five days a week. Citigroup last week said it would spend £1 billion to renovate its offices in London as part of the push to get workers back.
A Conservative peer in the House of Lords, Rose has consistently advocated a return to work with his comments now coming at a time when the Labour government is pushing its employment rights bill, which will mandate workers more flexibility.