The old norms of working life are shattering around us—and it is no bad thing. A deluge of companies, including NatWest, Nationwide and Aviva have confirmed they will no longer expect all of their staff to work in the office five days a week, even beyond the pandemic. Some are now expecting to make real-estate savings: in 2019, only 5 per cent of employees worked mainly from home, but that number grew to almost 50 per cent between the first and third lockdowns. According to the CIPD, people seem to have only got better at working from home, with employers now more likely to say that the shift to homeworking has boosted productivity than they were last summer.
Like other people, I have spent working days sat at home in Zoom meetings. I miss the more spontaneous conversations with colleagues that often lead to great ideas. But these changes are also provide huge benefits, allowing us to work seamlessly across offices up and down the country.
One sector embracing this is further education. Colleges put in place the infrastructure for students to learn remotely early in the pandemic. Burnley College, for example, switched to online portfolios for art and design courses, giving teachers instant access to students’ work. The college’s provision of hardware, software and tutor support enabled students to establish mini studios and work areas from their own home.
Across the UK, colleges are working together to make sure these benefits outlast the pandemic. Harlow College for instance is supporting other providers using the devices bought during lockdown to test how learners in sport, tourism and trade can gain from more access to digital learning. To aid them and others on this journey, we are putting in place measures that help colleges take advantage of cutting-edge digital approaches to online learning.
Through the College Collaboration Fund, over 780 new online lessons were created and more than 8,000 teachers working for colleges received training in remote educating and use of online tools. We have invested over £400m to widen access to remote education, including securing 1.35m laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people, with more than 85,000 devices delivered to further education institutions. And we are funding the high-tech ICT infrastructure for all FE and HE establishments in the country, providing the uncontested bandwidth essential to deliver the curriculum.
This means that a single parent tied up with childcare and work can take advantage of world-class training at a time that suits them. It means that those holding down an unrewarding, low-paid job can embark on a course they enjoy and will lead to a fulfilling career. It means that people across the world can log in to training in the UK, while also giving UK residents access to international experts. But drastic change presents challenges. We know that learning on the job can be essential for those starting work, particularly in technical professions. That is one of the reasons our skills reforms ensure employers have a voice in designing the training provided at college. It is also why technical education includes on the job training, for which there is no substitute.
How will businesses make sure that younger staff or career changers continue to develop throughout their early career? The answer is obvious, yet challenging: we will need to revolutionise skills development in the workplace.
In the three decades I spent in business, I saw how technology can drive improvements. The internet, mobile phones and digital payments were three ground-breaking changes that took place while I worked in business, each requiring new operating models and skills, and bringing new disruption, risks and new opportunities.
Businesses have always been at their best when they are at their most innovative—when they scan the horizon for what the future may bring and take advantage of it. This has not been easy to do in a global pandemic, but I have no doubt our outwardly-looking British businesses will embrace the innovation that this catastrophe has led us to, for the benefit of us all.
