Nationwide's 2,000 Northampton office staff can carry on working from home after Covid-19 pandemic is over
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One of Northampton's biggest employers has given its office staff the green light to work where they want when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.
Nationwide building society announced the move after just six per cent of workers said they preferred a return to the office.
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Hide AdMore than 2,000 people work at Nationwide's Moulton Park administration centre.
The society's Chief Executive Joe Garner said: “We are putting our employees in control of where they work from, inviting them to ‘locate for a day’ depending on what they need to achieve.
"We are also continuing to invest in some of our office space to foster social contact, collaboration and creativity.
"People won’t be forced to return to an office, but anyone who needs a desk in an office can have one, for whatever reason.”
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Hide Ad“The last year has taught many of us that ‘how’ we do our jobs is much more important than ‘where’ we do them from.
“We have listened and learned, and we are now deciding to move forward, not back. We are putting our employees in control of where they work from.”
The plan means Nationwide plans to reduce office space but will keep its large administration centre at Moulton Park.
The initiative called Work Anywhere is to be introduced after more than half of employees said they wanted to work from home full-time while 36 per cent preferred a blend of home and office work.
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Hide AdAs part of a “work, meet, recruit, live anywhere” initiative, Nationwide is also trialling a scheme where employees usually based in offices can work in branches alongside colleagues.
Nationwide says the staff survey, which was conducted with Ipsos MORI , also found that 43 per cent of remote workers still wanted some face-to-face time with colleagues to do their jobs effectively.
The company added that its offices would become 'hubs' and it is investing in more collaboration spaces and a range of well-being measures such as quiet areas.
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