A freedom of information (FOI) request submitted by Parliament Street, a Conservative Party aligned think tank, has found HMRC has spent over £80 million on hybrid working technology over the last three years.
In a breakdown of its spending, HMRC disclosed that 175,250 devices were purchased for its staff in order to allow 95% of its workforce to adopt a hybrid working policy of at least one day per week at home.
Of these devices, 88,362 were laptops, 54,093 were tablet computers, 32,013 were mobile phones, and 782 were desktop computers.
“Couch potato culture”
Parliament Street’s Chairman, Patrick Sullivan, said, “HMRC cannot continue to splash our hard-earned cash to fuel this absurd remote working binge. It’s time to put an end to this couch potato culture, with staff ordered back into the office as a mandatory part of their job description.”
This is despite numerous studies finding hybrid and remote working policies actually contribute to greater levels of productivity, a better work-life balance, and a happier workforce overall.
Earlier this year, Civil Service bosses were threatened with penalties if they did not get their staff back into offices after the widely adopted hybrid working policies of the pandemic were deemed to be no longer necessary.
Sachin Agrawal, Managing Director at Zoho UK, said, “Remote working is proven to deliver a dramatic increase to employee productivity, allowing staff to collaborate and manage important tasks wherever they may be.
“This level of tech investment should be part of a wider strategy, with employees getting access to the latest software applications, and being educated and fully trained to understand full capabilities. This ensures critical work is completed effectively and synchronised to deliver maximum value and contribute significantly to business success.”
Remote and hybrid working policies also reduce the cost of commuting significantly, which is particularly helpful in the UK where the cost-of-living crisis is forcing employees to readjust budgets in order to afford the essentials, while energy companies are reporting record profits in the billions of pounds.
“Flexible working is critical for cutting travel time and reducing overheads in terms of office costs,” said Stuart Munton, Chief for Delivery at AND Digital. “If we want to build a leaner, more effective public sector then these kind of tech investments are key.”
The use of outdated devices puts organizations at a greater risk of cyberattacks due to the lack of vulnerability patching and security updates. The public sector has seen frequent criticism for its lack of digital upgrades, with the 2017 WannaCry attack having a critical impact on the NHS largely due to the use of outdated devices.
Therefore, the spending that HMRC has made to provide updated, and therefore more secure, technology can potentially be regarded as an investment of taxpayer money rather than a waste, as the cost of recovering from a cyber attack could far exceed £80 million in terms of data loss, remediation, and lost working hours.