Chancellor rejects WFH, saying office should be ‘default’ option

The Chancellor has said working from the office should be the “default” option. Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce conference in London yesterday, Jeremy Hunt said he disagreed with Labour’s plans to make working from home a workers’ right. He insisted instead it was something for “businesses to find their own way through”. Meanwhile, Elon Musk has weighed in to the argument over working from home, saying it was not “morally right”. The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive said homeworking was unfair on those who had to commute because of their jobs, such as builders, mechanics or delivery drivers. The Twitter owner told CNBC: “You’re going to work from home and make everyone who made your car come to the factory? Does that seem morally right? That’s messed up.” He added: “It’s a productivity issue, but it’s also a moral issue. People should get off their moral high horse with this because they’re asking everyone else to not work from home while they do. It’s wrong.” Musk scrapped Twitter’s own working from home policy in November after he took control, while staff at Tesla and SpaceX are also expected to work on site. To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews Photo © George Cracknell Wright/LNP/Shutterstock