Nationwide to let 13,000 office staff work from anywhere in UK

The building society is closing three offices in Swindon to cut spending on office space

UK's biggest building society Nationwide has told 13,000 of its staff that they can choose to work from anywhere in the country when the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions are lifted.

The company believes that the new flexibility scheme will allow employees more control of their lives, while also enabling the organisation to cut spending on office space in the wake of the pandemic.

According to the BBC, Nationwide is set to close three offices in Swindon as part of the plan. Nearly 3,000 employees that worked in those offices will either shift to the nearby headquarters, work from home, or mix the two in a hybrid model.

In a recent survey conducted by Nationwide, 57 per cent of the employees said that they would prefer working from home full-time after lockdown restrictions ease. Thirty-six per cent said they wanted a blend of office and home-based work, while just six per cent said they wanted to return to the office permanently.

Speaking to the BBC's Today programme on Radio 4, Joe Garner, CEO of Nationwide, said that research suggested that employees made better decisions when working from home.

Offices would still have an important role to play after restrictions are lifted, Garner said, although people would be free to choose how often they wanted to travel to their office for work.

The move from Nationwide comes as firms across the UK and worldwide consider whether they can make remote working arrangements permanent, which were put in place during the coronavirus crisis.

In December, Alphabet's CEO Sundar Pichai told staff in an email that Google employees can continue to work remotely till September 2021. Pichai's message indicated that Google is also assessing the idea of a flexible work model once it is safe for staff to return to the office.

According to media reports, Google could require staff to attend office for three days a week and allow remote working the remaining days.

Twitter and Facebook also said last year that their employees can work from home "forever" or over the next decade, if they wish.

Last week, British Airways (BA) announced that it would allow employees to split their working lives between their homes and office. BA is currently exploring the sale of its Waterside headquarters near Heathrow Airport, where nearly 2,000 employees worked before the Covid-19 lockdown.

"It's not clear if such a large office will play a part in our future," BA said in a message to staff.

Oil giant BP has also told its staff that they can work from home two days a week after lockdown restrictions are lifted.

Lloyds Banking Group is also considering cutting down its office space by nearly 20 per cent over two years after a survey revealed that about 80 per cent of employees wanted to work at home for at least three days a week.

HSBC recently said that it was planning to cut office space but may still require staff to come to office on some days.

Daily Mirror publisher Reach has also said that it would close all offices except for 15 regional hubs as 75 per cent of staff would now be fully or mainly home-based.