
TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp sparked anger by suggesting that people working from home should "get back to work" to prove their "worth" to their employer.
The Location, Location, Location host raised concerns about coming redundancies as a result of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
She was also accused of "suggesting that people can be easily replaced with cheaper employees overseas" because of her comment that "if your job can be done from home it can be done from abroad".
If your job can be done from home it can be done from abroad where wages are lower. If I had an office job I’d want… https://t.co/EDzOdgm0Zf— Kirstie Allsopp (@Kirstie Allsopp) 1596630271
@KirstieMAllsopp It is not as easy as that. You obviously have not tried to do this. Schooling, education, langua… https://t.co/N9RQVpy03i— Miss Jo (@Miss Jo) 1596649112
People also questioned her reasoning that employers would be impressed by their staff returning to work in person.
@KirstieMAllsopp Most people prove their worth to their employer by doing their job well— Ross McCafferty (@Ross McCafferty) 1596639237
@KirstieMAllsopp Why would my return to commuting to an office, after 15 weeks of working from home, convince any manager of my worth ?— Monsignor it's all Corbyn's fault. (@Monsignor it's all Corbyn's fault.) 1596638193
Allsopp then sought to clarify her comments, insisting that her comments were prompted by concern for homeworkers, and was not an "attack" on them.
Beneath her original tweet, she replied to some of her critics, again pointing to her fears about post-lockdown job losses.
@MrsMummypennyUK People scaremongering about Covid all day long, if I’m terrified of the economic damage I think it’s important to say so.— Kirstie Allsopp (@Kirstie Allsopp) 1596659823
@MikeJ_C The only thing we all know is that a 66% drop in people working away from home will have a negative impact… https://t.co/7M96ROxdux— Kirstie Allsopp (@Kirstie Allsopp) 1596647189
The figure she quotes, that there was a 66 per cent drop in people going out to work as a result of lockdown, may have come from research undertaken by working from home messaging service Slack that states:
66 per cent of remote workers are doing so because of Covid-19 concerns.
But this research, carried out in late March in the US, states that 66 per cent of the 45 per cent of people surveyed who were working from home were doing so because of the pandemic.
The other 33 per cent in that group "normally" work from home anyway.
Slack's 45 per cent figure is roughly in line with Office for National Statistics data that suggests 46.6 per cent of people in employment in the UK did some work from home in April. That figure later climbed to 49 per cent.
It is also possible Allsopp was referring to the fact that homeworking rates rose to 70 per cent among professional occupations and 67 per cent among managers and directors.
Indy100 has contacted Kirstie Allsopp to query where her figure came from, and we'll update you if we receive a reply.
In her response to the backlash her comments received, Allsopp also pointed out that her concerns are about "employers' behaviour not employees".
@ClaireClucky I’m not saying working from home doesn’t have benefits, my fear is about employers behaviour not employees.— Kirstie Allsopp (@Kirstie Allsopp) 1596697944
She also acknowledged that working from home can be a positive or a negative, depending on your situation.
WFH works beautifully for some and is pretty hellish for others. But my cynicism is about employers, not employees.… https://t.co/GALPtoDoLj— Kirstie Allsopp (@Kirstie Allsopp) 1596699339
Other updates have included decrying the attention her tweet received in comparison to another tweet about the explosions in Beirut, and pointing out that she is not an expert on the economy.
What’s pathetic about today, and really sad is that my tweet about work got thousands, thousands more RTs than my o… https://t.co/NvXSnlc9aW— Kirstie Allsopp (@Kirstie Allsopp) 1596661063
Dear Journos, I’m just a TV presenter who speaks only from what I see as I travel the country doing my job. The Pro… https://t.co/dU1jlA4WLh— Kirstie Allsopp (@Kirstie Allsopp) 1596714390
You can find analysis from experts about whether working from home has an adverse effect on the economy here.