Breaking Barriers or Building Them? The True Cost of a 5-Day Office Workweek
As employers push for a return to a traditional five-day office workweek, the unintended consequences for inclusivity are becoming clear. This blog explores how rigid in-office policies may exclude a significant portion of the workforce, such as caregivers and those with health challenges, risking a less inclusive society. We discuss the hidden costs of losing local talent and the financial burden of hiring internationally. The post advocates for flexible, performance-driven work cultures that focus on trust and outcomes, not just hours spent in the office. At RatikLytics, our 4-day hybrid workweek showcases the benefits of valuing trust and performance over presenteeism, leading to a more inclusive and productive workplace.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIONLEADERSHIPWORK CULTURE
Ratika Singh, CFA
1/15/20255 min read
As businesses continue to push for employees to return to the office five days a week, it's clear that many employers are genuinely concerned about collaboration, performance, and maintaining company culture. However, we must ask ourselves: Are these rigid office policies inadvertently creating a less inclusive society?
While employers’ concerns are understandable, there are more significant implications beyond the workplace. The emphasis on a 5-day office requirement risks excluding valuable members of the workforce who face unique challenges, such as those with caregiving responsibilities or disabilities. The negative impact on these individuals might not just affect morale—it could result in businesses losing a significant portion of their talent pool. It also raises the question: is this the best way to foster innovation and productivity?
The Genuine Concerns of Employers
It’s understandable why employers are revisiting the office-only policy. For many organisations, in-person work offers better communication, collaboration, and a sense of community. Face-to-face interactions can create more immediate connection, help build culture, and enable spontaneous problem-solving. Employers may also believe that employees are more likely to stay engaged and productive when they are physically present in the office.
However, this rigidity in work policies could come with unintended consequences. For one, it may exclude a significant portion of the workforce that cannot afford to commit to a 5-day office schedule. And in today’s competitive job market, companies can’t afford to lose talent over policies that no longer align with the diverse needs of employees.
A Day in the Life of Tom: A Father Balancing Work and Family
Meet Tom, a management consultant and father to a young daughter. Every day, he faces the challenge of balancing his high-pressure job and his responsibilities as a father. Tom needs to leave the office at 4:30 PM to collect his daughter from daycare before it closes.
Under a 5-day office mandate, Tom spends his afternoons rushing to meet this deadline, often compromising the quality of his work in the process. If he were working from home, however, he could easily extend his workday by an extra hour, allowing him to remain productive until 5:30 PM or even 6:00 PM without losing time to commute.
The reality is that time spent commuting is not only wasted; it compounds Tom’s stress. If he continues to compensate for this by working longer hours or on weekends, the cumulative effect will lead to burnout. This scenario is far from unique. It’s a challenge faced by parents, caregivers, and people with disabilities every day.
In a remote setup, however, Tom could optimise his time, balancing work and home life, without compromising his professional responsibilities. The increased flexibility would not only improve his well-being but also enhance his productivity. But in a world where presenteeism is still valued over performance, Tom and many like him are at a disadvantage.
The 30% Loss: Why Employers Cannot Afford to Lose this Talent Pool
Here’s the reality: about 30% of the UK workforce has caring responsibilities or disabilities. This includes parents, people caring for sick relatives, or those with physical or mental health challenges. Mandating an in-office, 5-day workweek risks excluding 30% of your potential workforce, which represents a significant proportion of skilled and talented individuals.
If employers continue to insist on rigid office policies, they could inadvertently drive away an entire segment of the workforce that could contribute meaningfully. Furthermore, the hidden costs of losing talent are steep.
The Price of Excluding 30% of the Workforce
Now, let’s put some numbers behind the hidden costs of this policy. If businesses choose to exclude 30% of the workforce due to the in-office requirement, they’ll need to replace that talent—likely by hiring employees from outside the UK.
But hiring internationally doesn’t come cheap. Companies will face significant costs when recruiting talent from abroad, including:
Visa and Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS): For a skilled worker visa, employers will need to cover the £1,500 annual fee per employee. For a single worker on a 3-year visa, that’s £4,500 in immigration fees alone.
Relocation costs: Employers often pay for relocation expenses, which can be substantial—anywhere from £1,000 to £5,000 depending on the region.
Recruitment and onboarding expenses: The average recruitment cost in the UK ranges between £3,000 and £5,000, including advertising and time spent on interviews.
Cultural integration: The process of integrating employees from different countries may require additional training and resources.
Beyond recruitment costs, employers must also consider the overhead of maintaining a physical office. Increased office space requirements to accommodate a larger workforce, as well as the associated operational costs—electricity, cleaning, supplies, and security—are further hidden costs that weigh heavily on the business.
The cost of hiring and retaining talent from outside the UK, when combined with office maintenance, represents a significant financial burden for businesses.
Innovation Under a Hybrid Model: A Proven Success
However, there is a clear counterexample to the rigid 5-day office policy—one that is already showing tremendous results. Some of the most innovative companies of the past decade, such as OpenAI with its creation of ChatGPT, thrived under hybrid work policies. OpenAI’s success—creating one of the most innovative technologies of this generation—was built upon collaboration between remote teams and in-office employees without the constraints of a 5-day office schedule.
Moving Towards a Flexible, Performance-Driven Work Culture
So how can employers create a win-win situation for themselves and their employees? The answer lies in rethinking how we measure performance. Instead of judging employees by the time they spend in the office, employers should shift focus to outcome-based performance evaluations.
Performance should be evaluated on the value employees bring to the organisation, rather than the number of hours they spend at their desks. For example, Tom, the father and management consultant, could be evaluated on the quality of his work and the outcomes he delivers for clients, rather than the number of hours he clocks in at the office. A results-oriented approach allows employees to manage their time in ways that best suit their personal and professional lives, ensuring that work-life balance doesn’t have to be sacrificed for performance.
A shift towards trust-based leadership—where employees are trusted to deliver results—helps foster a more inclusive culture, where individuals are empowered to do their best work, whether from home or the office. This move away from micromanagement is critical in creating a productive, efficient, and diverse workforce.
Employers Have a Responsibility to Build a Better Society
As employers, we have a responsibility to not only generate high profits but also create a better working society. The rigid "office-only" policies are no longer in tune with the evolving demands of the workforce. They limit opportunities for employees with caregiving responsibilities, disabilities, and those who need flexible work hours, effectively alienating valuable talent.
By moving towards hybrid or flexible working arrangements, companies can retain and empower their workforce, reduce recruitment and immigration costs, and foster a more inclusive environment. A trusting, results-driven work culture, rather than one focused on micromanagement and time spent in the office, is the key to fostering a healthy, diverse, and successful society.
Conclusion: A Path Toward a More Inclusive and Efficient Future
The traditional 5-day in-office policy may be well-meaning, but it risks alienating a significant portion of the workforce and creating unnecessary financial burdens for businesses. Embracing hybrid or flexible work arrangements, along with performance-based evaluations, will enable businesses to tap into a wider talent pool, improve work-life balance, and foster a more inclusive, innovative, and efficient workplace.
Let’s not just focus on short-term profits; let’s build a better society—one that values people, trust, and inclusivity.
At Ratiklytics, we proudly operate under a 4-day hybrid work policy, where employees have the flexibility to balance their professional and personal commitments, leading to greater job satisfaction, better performance, and a more positive work environment. We believe this is the way forward—where work isn’t just about long hours in the office, but about creating value, fostering innovation, and nurturing the wellbeing of our teams.