Marvin OnumonuA study has found that racial disparities in working from home (WFH) may lead to inequitable enforcement of return-to-office mandates introduced since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The research, published in the Industrial Relations Journal, analysed data from the UK Labour Force Survey from 2017 to 2023.
It highlighted that, while WFH has increased across all ethnicities in the UK since before the pandemic, some groups were still less likely to be working from home in 2022-23, even when accounting for factors such as employment sector and occupational level.
The study found that ethnicity, gender, migration status, and parental status all affected rates of WFH.
Black men were less likely to work from home than white men, while black women were as likely as white women to do so.
Chinese and ‘other Asian’ workers, both men and women, had lower rates of WFH compared to white workers.
Black fathers were less likely to work from home than white fathers.
Additionally, Chinese, ‘other Asian’, and Pakistani/Bangladeshi men without children were less likely to engage in WFH than their white counterparts.
Migrants from ethnic minorities, especially those from Chinese and Black backgrounds, also had lower rates of WFH than white workers, regardless of their country of birth.
The researchers suggest that these disparities could stem from managerial biases against Black and minority ethnic (BME) workers, particularly Black or migrant workers, leading to a reluctance to grant them WFH opportunities.
Weaker bargaining power among these groups might also contribute to a reluctance to WFH due to concerns about negative impacts on career progression.
While some BME workers, particularly men, may choose not to use flexible working arrangements, this lower uptake is likely due to stigma and a perception that it could harm their careers.
The study also suggests that some gender differences might be due to ethnic minority women choosing to WFH to manage family demands and avoid potential micro-aggressions in the office, despite potential negative career consequences.
Professor Heejung Chung, professor of work and employment at King’s Business School and director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, said: “On the one hand, it is great to see that much of the gaps in homeworking we found in pre-pandemic periods across workers of different ethnicities have reduced significantly with more workers being able to work from home.
“Having said that, it is still concerning that some worker groups with the least bargaining power in the UK labour market are unable to access the great resource that is working from home.”
Chung added: “Especially in light of the return-to-office mandates we are seeing more recently, our results indicate that we might end up with a greater disparity between workers with different levels of bargaining power.
“This may result in greater inequalities in the labour market between workers of different ethnicities and migration backgrounds.”
Shiyu Yuan, phd candidate in social policy at the University of Kent and research fellow at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, said: “The racial disparities in working from home that we found are more than a policy matter – they reflect deeper structural biases in the workplace.
“Even in this post-pandemic era, when homeworking has become more widespread, BME workers — especially men and migrant workers —still lag behind.”
Yuan added: “They often worry that taking up home-working could reinforce negative stereotypes or hinder their career progressions, particularly if they already face added pressures as ethnic minorities with migration backgrounds.
“It’s clear that simply offering WFH options isn’t enough: employers and policymakers have to tackle these biases and do more to ensure equitable access to homeworking for everyone.”
