Cambridge Public Health Co-Director Professor Gordon Harold has provided key evidence to the House of Lords Home-based Working Committee, whose new report, Is Working from Home Working?, was published today. The Committee is investigating the long-term implications of home and hybrid working for employment, productivity and public health.
Professor Harold led an interdisciplinary team specialising in mental health, productivity and longitudinal research. Their evidence highlighted major gaps in UK-specific data on the impacts of remote and hybrid work. Much of the current evidence base relies on surveys and digital activity data from outside the UK, limiting the ability of policymakers to draw firm conclusions.
The researchers called for more UK-sector-specific data on remote and hybrid working to better understand its effects on mental health and productivity in the workplace. They also emphasised the importance of building a stronger evidence base on the long-term impacts of remote and hybrid working and of establishing rigorous, objective metrics for assessing organisational productivity.
Full commentary is available on the Bennett Institute for Public Policy blog.