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Four retailers that have U-turned on flexible working policies

Four retailers that have U-turned on flexible working policies

At the start of the week, former Asda chairman Lord Stuart Rose sparked debate by criticising remote working, claiming it has fostered a generation of employees who are “not doing proper work.”

Rose argued that the rise of remote work post-pandemic is damaging productivity across industries, with retail being one of the hardest-hit sectors.

His remarks follow Asda’s move in November to call its 5,000 head office staff back to the office for at least three days a week, abandoning its four-day workweek policy.

But Asda isn’t alone in rolling back flexible working policies. Several major retailers have also shifted their stance, urging staff to return to the office full-time.

However, others are doubling down on hybrid working to attract and retain talent, appealing to those who value the flexibility of not being tied to a desk five days a week.

Retail Gazette rounds up how different retailers are approaching workplace policies.

Retailers rolling back flexible working policies

Amazon

Back in September, Amazon scrapped its hybrid work policy, with staff obliged to return to the office five days per week from this month.

Announcing the change in a memo to staff, the ecommerce giant’s CEO Andy Jassy said: “We’ve decided that we’re going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of Covid.”

The executive insisted that the move would help workers be “better set up to invent, collaborate, and be connected enough to each other”.

Amazon workers were previously allowed to work from home two days per week.

The change comes after Amazon informed its managers they could fire workers who refused to work in the office a minimum of three days per week in October.

Boots

Last year, Boots told all head office employees that it would be reverting back to working in the office five days a week from September.

The health and beauty retailer said it wanted to make its offices in Nottingham, London and Weybridge a “normal place of work” for its employees.

Managing director Seb James said: “In line with a majority of UK businesses, I want to start a thoughtful plan that gets us back to the office – whether Nottingham, London or Weybridge – being the normal place of work for everybody for the whole working week.

In a statement, Boots said: “We really value the team spirit that comes with being together in person. There will of course still be times when working from home is necessary for either personal or business reasons.”

New Look

In November, reports emerged that New Look has ordered staff across its buying, merchandising and design (BMD) department back into the office four days a week.

The team currently work three days in the office, the fashion retailer confirmed, and once the change comes into place from January, Friday will remain a hybrid day.

The team, which had previously, worked three days in the office, now just have Friday as a hybrid day.

At the time, New Look said bringing the BMD teams in four days allows the product facing team to work collaboratively, generate ideas, and respond quickly to trade patterns/trends.

Tesco

Tesco

Back in July, Tesco said its office workers would see their in-office days increase from two to three per week starting in September, in a bid to get colleagues to spend more time working together than apart.

Full-time staff now work in the office for a minimum of three days a week, which is in either their contracted office or other location depending to their role.

For the grocery giant’s part-time workers, the expectation is for them to work from the office for the equivalent number of days to meet the principle.

The retailer, which became the first UK supermarket to grant all staff the ability to request flexible working in 2023, said it believed coming together in person allowed it to deliver more effectively on its core purpose and provided stronger connection between staff, shoppers and suppliers.

It added the principle promoted greater levels of engagement, created more opportunities for idea generation and led to better access to development opportunities.

Retailers embracing flexible working policies

Currys

Currys

Currys scrapped its head offices in 2022 in favour of staff memberships to WeWork’s 50-plus offices around the UK in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Unlike other retailers, the electricals giant has no plans to U-turn anytime soon.

In statement on its website Currys said: “As a business we really champion flexible working and want to support your wellbeing. This might mean flexible hours and shift patterns for our in-store colleagues or hybrid and remote working in our Corporate team. With the right mix of working options, we can collaborate, connect, build relationships and innovate. That’s a no-brainer in our book.”

Currys group chief executive Alex Baldock added: “We are not just paying lip service to hybrid working as we come out of the pandemic. We have listened to our colleagues, who have been outstanding through Covid’s many challenges, and have implemented the changes they wanted to see.

“Our workspace of the future embraces what genuine hybrid working means, not just where you work, but how you work.”

Wickes

Wickes took part in a flexible working pilot back in 2023, before rolling out flexible working arrangements for customer-facing store managers across 14 sites throughout last year.

During the trial some managers opted to change their working patterns to work four longer days in-store, whilst others chose to flex their hours across the week in a way that better suited their lives.

The retailer said the results from the pilot found there was no negative impact on store performance or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and 96.5% of store managers taking part in the pilot were either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with their working hours at the end of the pilot (up from 66.5% pre-pilot).

Wickes chief people officer Sonia Astill said: “We are delighted to be giving the opportunity for our store management teams to explore flexible working options and busting the myth that managers in retail operations need to be on-site at all hours of the day.

“We have demonstrated that this just isn’t the case and that being open-minded about flexible working patterns can deliver significant benefits to both the company and colleagues.”

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