Jessica’s positive experience of remote working is part of a growing appreciation for work flexibility.

According to The Working from Home during Covid-19 Lockdown Project conducted by the University of Kent and the University of Birmingham, 86% of those surveyed worked from home at some point during the UK lockdown.

Interestingly though, most respondents (including 52% of all parents and 66% of non-parents) noted that they would be keen to continue working flexibly in the future after experiencing increased productivity, higher levels of wellbeing, and a better work-life balance.

Employees aren’t the only ones coming around to the idea of remote working.

Until now, managerial perceptions around remote working have been largely negative, with bosses sceptical about the productivity levels of people who were physically out of sight.

Even though all employees in the UK who have been with their company for more than six months have the right to request flexible working, according to a 2019 poll from the Trades Union Congress, one in three (30%) requests are turned down.

Now, with the extraordinary shift to remote working throughout the pandemic – not to mention proven levels of productivity – there’s far more understanding.

“Bosses are a lot more flexible than they ever would have been before, allowing people to work in ways that they wouldn’t before,” says psychologist and clinical director of Private Therapy Clinic, Dr Becky Spelman.

“With all this drastic change there’s actually amazing innovation going on and amazing flexibility in the way that employers are thinking, and this is leading to far more enjoyment for people, and a lot more work-life freedom.”

We only have to look to the example of some of the world’s major companies to see how minds are changing.

Tech giants Facebook and Google were some of the first to extend their remote leave until the end of the year, while other Silicon Valley firms like Twitter and Square recently offered their employees the option of working from home “forever”.

The chief executive of Barclays, Jes Staley, even declared that a big city office “may be a thing of the past”.

Here’s how working from anywhere is going to transform how we feel about work