UK Public Sector Phasing Out Remote and Hybrid Working

“The people aspect of digital transformation should never be under-estimated, so Public Sector decision-makers ought to think carefully before they go too far back down the path of mandating office-based work,” said Mark Gibbison, AVP Global Public Sector and Higher Education, Unit4. “The continued support among workers for remote and hybrid working cannot be ignored. If the Public Sector wants to attract the best candidates it must be willing to adapt or find alternative solutions, such as increasing automation and use of AI to support the existing workforce to do their jobs.”

Are other Public Sector organisations internationally mandating office return?

The UK mirrors international trends in RTO mandates, as only 16% respondents say they operate a 100% remote working model in 2025, compared to 33% in 2023, while 33% operate a hybrid model today versus 53% in 2023. Just over half of international respondents (51%) are fully office based today compared to 13% on average globally in 2023, with the Netherlands having the highest number (63%) who say they are office-based today. In Canada although the number of respondents has gone down compared to 2023 (89%), 66% say that currently their organisations operate a remote/ hybrid model. For Sweden, the Netherlands and Canada combined 41% on average of those who are not fully office based today plan to move to this model within two years.

On a more positive note, UK respondents say they have much less of an issue with having to hire staff who do not have the right skills - only 15% say it is an issue in 2025, compared to 27% in 2023. Equally, they have more chance of finding the right candidates in 2025 as only 11% say they cannot find the right recruits compared to 27% in 2023. Respondents also say it is easier to recruit staff with greater or technical expertise - only 3% agreed with this statement in 2023 compared to 38% in 2025.

Given that a separate study in May this year by the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London and King’s Business School, showed growing resistance to an RTO mandate[1], the UK Public Sector is going to have to work very hard to retain critical IT skills and ensure diverse workforce representation of its communities at a time when it is trying to drive radical transformation. 74% of UK respondents in 2025 to Unit4’s study expect to complete their change strategies in two years versus 49% in 2023, which means Public Sector organisations must consider attractive, flexible working packages to recruit and retain talent.

Methodology

Vanson Bourne surveyed 400 Public Sector decision makers across Finance, IT, HR, compliance, audit, governance, strategy, corporate and operations functions. The survey took place between April and May 2025 and surveyed respondents in Canada, Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. They were also drawn from a variety of public sector bodies, including central government, healthcare, state or provincial government and non-departmental government bodies. In the UK, there were 100 respondents.

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