How remote working could stop London capsizing the UK
Across the great divide
The North/South divide exists, and there’s compelling evidence that it’s worsening. Government talk of “Northern Powerhouses” hasn’t delivered, and with a possible “no-deal Brexit” on the horizon it’s tough to imagine the north of the UK — or perhaps anywhere further up than Birmingham — receiving an equal share of resources. (The equation might be balanced a little by slower growth in London post-Brexit, but no one’s going to get a cookie for that solution.)
Speaking as a London-based start-up with mostly London-based customers, the capital’s influence on the economic fortunes of the country is undeniable. London takes more and gives more than anywhere else. Several UK industries essentially reside here, with few comparable opportunities in other major cities and none at all in the regions around.
The problems this causes are well-documented and far too numerous to go into here. But they all amount to the same thing : a lower standard of living for basically everyone except the very wealthy. Deprived of genuine choice as to their location of work, millions of people find their negotiation capacity reduced, their public services oversubscribed or underinvested in (or both), and houses prices unmanageably high or unsellably low. Monopolies stifle opportunity.
Spread it around
The only realistic solution to this is to spread employment opportunities out more evenly across the nation. That’s it — there’s no magic piece of legislation or government initiative that’s going to fix the problem. The only solution to “too many jobs in one place” is: “spread ’em out.” We’re labouring this point simply because it’s so singular. London’s dominance is acute and damaging (and this is written by someone who truly loves the city), so the question is not “what’s the solution” but “how do we bring that solution about?”
Remote working could — and probably will — be a huge part of it.
For the majority of intellectual/service jobs, there is no mechanical reason to go into an office (or indeed anywhere at all in particular). Every bit of actual production is done via a computer. All intra-office communication either could be or already is done via digital means (including telephone). All inter-office communication already is. Ditto sharing of work. You might hate video-conferencing as an alternative to meetings, but the facility is already there.
The arguments against this manner of work are human-based. People don’t like them. People are less effective using them. People take the opportunity to skive. People prefer face-to-face human interaction.
None of these counter-arguments is without merit. But if we’re serious about closing the regional wealth gap in this country then they are arguments we must address and overcome. There will never be a self-motivated business exodus from London to Sheffield. It’s just not going to happen under the current circumstances. Businesses that are likely to leave London are likely to leave the UK for good, which is hardly a palatable alternative. And without businesses moving, potential employees aren’t going to move. The opportunities — and salaries — that London generates are simply too enticing.
Unless… you could live basically anywhere you liked, and work remotely most of the time. Perhaps you video conference for an hour every morning and afternoon. Perhaps you go to a regional hub — open once a week, at a local WeWork equivalent in the closest town — for a day of face-to-face with your colleagues. The whole day is dedicated to collaboration, so you get a lot of it done.
Perhaps you commute to London for the day twice a week (saving money through not doing it every day, and able to travel off-peak). Perhaps you do your meetings in bloody VR, with a perfectly coiffed virtual avatar representing you while your real body lies on a beanbag in pajamas.
It doesn’t really matter what the particular solution is. The general solution is practical, economical, efficient and, faced with the problems London’s influence causes workers around the country, eminently sensible. We’ll leave aside the positives remote working brings from a work/life balance perspective (it’s not like we don’t go on about that enough). Remote working just makes business sense.
Holding back the flood
So why aren’t companies embracing it? Simple — they’ve got no idea how to manage it. Remote working relies on motivation — no one can “see” you, and so you have to motivate yourself to get your work done. Businesses know that most people’s jobs are not intrinsically motivating or valuable enough to guarantee that workers do everything they’re supposed to just “because.” A lot of jobs are bullshit jobs. So the fair assumption is that, as soon as you allow workers autonomy, they just… won’t do any work anymore. They’ve got better things to do.
Quite aside from the question of what these people are doing at work all day when their manager isn’t staring at the back of their head, this set of assumptions has a major flaw — people need to work. Whether they like it or not. Even, in fact, if they despise it. The prospect of getting sacked if you don’t do your job is all the motivation most need. And while there may be a recalcitrant few who relish remote working as a chance to skive, a genuine cultural shift towards remote working will leave those people exposed, no matter where they chose to “work” from. Their behaviour will have to change. If it doesn’t, eventually they won’t be able to make rent.
The crack in the dam
All this indicates that a significant change to remote working is lurking just over the horizon. When companies can credibly manage and motivate their staff without asking for a two-hour round trip and a few grand in commuting fares on top (perish the thought) companies that cannot will become unworkably unattractive. Which would you rather pick, if the salaries were about the same: a company that admits that remote working has challenges but takes effective steps to deal with them and encourages all their staff to work wherever suits them best, or a company that just… doesn’t?
The change, if/when it comes, will probably be swift. Flexible and remote working opportunities are valued by Millennials — who now make up 25% of the workforce — more than salary in many cases.
So the question is probably not if, but when and how quickly. It’s one of those situations where it may not pay to be a pioneer, but being saddled up and ready to go will bring huge dividends. The large companies that have rolled out remote working — most often as a perk, rather than a genuine business strategy — and then jealousy yanked it away when faced with dipping profits are probably a blip. Early adopters of a trend, not a strategy. To mix our watery metaphors, as soon as a few huge firms take the plunge, the dam will break.
The idea of a sudden flood of jobs spreading out over the country is a nice one. How realistic it is, only time will tell. But when ministers, government bodies and QUANGOS talk about ways to close the regional wealth gap, encouraging remote working should be at the top of their lists.
Juggle is a hiring platform for the future of work; our mission is gender equality in business leadership by 2027. We’re doing that with our world-class digital platform and a pioneering attitude to flexible and remote working.
