SIGNIFICANT numbers of people working from home in Scotland have found their jobs more intense and stressful over the past year, according to a groundbreaking new report for the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC).

In a survey of more than 3,000 workers, over a third felt that their health had worsened as a consequence of working from home, with just over a quarter reporting the opposite. 

A significant proportion of respondents hoped not to work full-time from home following the pandemic, while just under a third said that they would not like to return to the office at all.

The research was carried out by Professors Phil Taylor and Dora Scholarios of Strathclyde University and Professor Debra Howcroft of Manchester University, who said that such varied experiences should serve as a warning against sweeping office closures and blanket changes to working terms.

Prof Taylor said there was compelling evidence that working from home is not desirable for a significant minority.

“Employers will need to accommodate, and unions to represent, multiple, often contrasting, worker interests and preferences,” he said. “The development of agile or hybrid arrangements should follow best practice by being fully negotiated with unions.”

Nearly all participants were union members, which the researchers said makes them more likely to be better protected in the workplace. Negative experiences and concerns might be higher among those currently working from home, they added.

Almost all respondents emphasised that future changes to working patterns should be optional and wanted unions to negotiate to ensure that these are shaped in members’ interests.

STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said the survey shows the importance of workers joining together. 

“This work reflects what we have been hearing from unions across Scotland,” she said.

“Significant numbers of workers have experienced work intensification and stress over the past year, yet for many others the overall experience has been positive.  

“A key conclusion is that many workers are positive about some degree of future home working, but this must be optional, flexible and only undertaken through negotiation. 

“Millions of workers were not initially employed to work from home and have a right to resist imposed changes. 

“There has never been a more important time for these workers to join a union.”

The findings came as the Scottish Futures Trust warned that while some enjoy working from home, for others doing so is having an impact on their mental health and causing social isolation.