After working from home for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, employees of IG Group’s London office will now be able to return to the office if they so wish, the Online Trading provider recently announced.
On LinkedIn earlier today, the IG Group announced that it has reopened its London office this week, offering its UK-based employees the flexibility to either come back to the office to work or to work from home for the rest of the year.
Jon Noble, COO at IG Group
Source: LinkedIn
Commenting on the move, Jon Noble, IG Chief Operating Officer (COO), said in the statement: “IG has proven its resilience. We know the situation in the UK is still fluid, but we fully expect that many people will choose to continue to work at home some or indeed all of the time.
“However, we have seen increased demand for people to be able to access the office recently and we are facilitating that demand for a partial return for some people in a very coordinated way.”
IG Group: The Choice Is Yours
In its statement via the social media platform, the UK-based online trading provider highlighted that it recognises this decision is a personal choice for each individual.
With the onset of COVID-19, many businesses have been forced into allowing their employees to work from home, regardless of whether this was an option before the pandemic.
With cases of coronavirus continuing to pop up around the globe, even though some restrictions have eased, many employees have still opted to remain at home if their workplace has allowed them to do so.
In fact, a number of companies have offered a similar deal as IG Group: 'come into the office if you wish, or choose to work from home for the rest of the year'.
Working from Home Could Be the New Normal
As Finance Magnates previously analysed, although studies had shown that employees are on average more productive when working from home, employers had largely been reluctant to make the change, which was motivated by fear of losing revenue.
However, the coronavirus pandemic took that choice out of employers hands, showing that it is possible for their staff to work from home and still remain productive.
Indeed, the 'perception has changed', David Mansell, co-founder and director of NEM Ventures, told Finance Magnates in a previous interview. “Individuals have realized that those at home are not idly watching Netflix. One friend outside of the Blockchain space has told me he has ‘never worked so hard in his life.’”
