It’s a daily grind epitomised by Dolly Parton‘s classic tune ‘9 to 5’. But now it appears those working from home are rebelling against the traditional daytime shift hours.
Shirking remote workers are getting an early start on the weekend – by switching off from 3pm on a Friday, according to a new study.
Broadband traffic levels from Virgin Media shows a dip of about eight per cent between 3-5pm compared with the winter months.
It’s led to claims those staff working from home who are clocking off early are behind the drop.
Many surveyed by Virgin are unrepentant at signing off at 3pm, with 59 per cent surveyed admitting they weren’t the slightest bit guilty.
One man who works from home and leaves early without telling his bosses, told Daily Mail he unashamedly sneaks off for a Jack Daniel’s and Coke at the pub.
‘No one asks if I’m okay staying late to finish a project on time. So I don’t ask to leave early on Friday. I work my contracted hours and I get my work done. Who cares?’
Almost two thirds (61 per cent) believed they had earned the right to swan off at 3pm after a busy week, while 63 per cent insisted they were more productive earlier in the week if they believed they would have a shorter day on Friday.
One-in-10 Britons have admitted to working from pub gardens on a summer Friday to escape their desks and lap up the sunshine, while others hang at a beach.
People working from home are reportedly clocking off early on Fridays during summer to grab pints at a beer garden (people are pictured on a beach in Newquay, Cornwall, on a busy Friday)
One-in-10 Britons have admitted to working from pub gardens on a summer Friday to escape their desks and lap up the sunshine (file image)
According to figures from Virgin, internet usage dips after 3pm, suggesting Brits clock off early while working remote to get a head start on the weekend (file image)
While almost a third of 18 to 24-year-olds (30 per cent) admitted they had worked from the car while travelling for the weekend.
Despite almost half of UK adults saying they’re not allowed to wrap up their shifts early on a Friday, some 32 per cent revealed they simply don’t care and do so anyway.
Some 24 per cent of those questioned claimed they often secretly ditch work early while keeping their online status as ‘active’ on a summer Friday.
Britain has the most people working from home in Europe, with some 42 per cent of the population either fully or partially working remotely, the Office for National Statistics found.
But the practice, which ballooned in popularity during the Covid lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, is facing a growing backlash.
A recent poll found 55 per cent of workers were suffering from ‘video call fatigue’ and were bored of endless meetings over Zoom.
The study also revealed how productivity slumped while WFH, with 46 per cent of hybrid workers believing they are more productive in the office than remote and only 23 per cent think they are more productive at home.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, was one of the ministers pushing for civil servants to return to the office amid productivity fears. After it emerged Britain was the working from home capital of Europe, he said: ‘No wonder our productivity record, especially in the public sector, continues to be so bad.’
Former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said working from home hit productivity. Mr Rees-Mogg is seen closing his eyes and reclining in his seat during a parliamentary debate
And in a furious recorded rant that went viral, Jamie Dimon – the chief executive of JP Morgan Chase, slammed staff earlier this year for working from home.
‘Don’t give me this s*** that work-from-home-Friday works,’ Dimon told workers, according to the recording – which has been viewed more than 1.7million times. ‘I call a lot of people on Fridays, and there’s not a goddamn person you can get a hold of.’
His bank demanded staff returned to the office full-time, along with other Wall Street firms, including Goldman Sachs and BlackRock as well as Amazon.
HSBC has told its executives to return to the office four days a week from later this year and Barclays rolled out a minimum of three days. While BT and Asda demand staff are in three days a week.
John Roberts, chief executive of AO.com also outlawed WFH, saying it ‘doesn’t work’ and that the firm had to get ‘it’s priorities right here’. ‘The priority is customers and culture and so we need everybody in the office,’ he told the BBC.
But not everyone is against WFH. One person on X wrote: ‘I used to leave early on a Friday from the office to avoid the crazy traffic. This is after arriving late most days, also because of traffic. My 2 hours commuting everyday is now spent working, so I’m doing more hours than I ever did before by not having to sit in my car.’
British employees now work from home for 1.8 days a week on average compared to 1.3 days globally, according to a recent King’s College London (KCL) study.
The UK’s post-lockdown WFH boom means many young workers are demanding 100 per cent remote-working and even refusing to come into the office for job interviews, bosses have said.
One media chief told how the pendulum of power has swung away from the employer towards the employee, saying: ‘Gen-Z candidates want to know what the employer can do for them first – they’re the ones in power.’
James Micklethwait, vice-president of online educational firm Kahoot!, told the Mail how the ‘changing post-pandemic work environment’ was prompting firms to offer better deals to WFH Gen Z-ers – for fear they could be tempted elsewhere if denied at least hybrid working.
A recent survey by Deloitte found some 77 per cent of Gen Z-ers in the UK and 71 per cent of slightly older millennials would consider looking for a new job if told they had to turn up at their workplace full-time.
Mr Micklethwait said: ‘With many Gen Zs entering the workforce for the first time after having experienced remote education as a consequence of the pandemic, they are increasingly seeking non-traditional desk roles as a result.
‘With this, companies need to manage the generational divide and begin to embrace technology that can ease their transition into the workplace.
‘With Covid lockdowns permanently altering the way we work, it is likely that we will see an increase in roles that would have once been considered out of the ordinary, as employers look to appeal to the demands of younger, tech-minded workers.’
According to those surveyed by Virgin, some 30 per cent of companies sanction an early Friday exit in the summer.
Dr Cevat Giray Aksoy, associate professor of economics at KCL, told The Times: ‘If some people are logging off at 3pm on a Friday, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it may reflect greater efficiency, better time management, or simply a more balanced work culture.
‘What ultimately matters is whether the work gets done, not whether someone is active on their broadband connection at a particular hour.’
Jeanie York, chief technology officer at Virgin Media O2, said: ‘Our network traffic analysis is revealing changing workplace habits in real time as the nation takes advantage of long summer Fridays.’
