The FDA responded to reports from the BBC that only 1 in 10 Welsh Government staff are working the office everyday by arguing that the pandemic has changes the world of work and the benefits of this need to be embraced. The Welsh Government has said that is hopes to “be an exemplar” for remote working.

The FDA’s National Officer for Wales, Gareth Hills, said the current number of staff working from home showed that “the pandemic has changed the world of work and I think that change is permanent”.

Hills stated that “we’re seeing increased hybrid working and that can allow for even more savings for the taxpayer as less office space is needed”. As well as being cost effective for tax payers, it will increase the efficiency of government workers, Hills continued: ‘FDA members at Welsh Government don’t have to undertake long journeys and spend fruitless hours in cars or on trains travelling between offices in Wales’.

As well as benefiting current government employees, hybrid working also “opens up opportunities” for new jobs for people in rural areas, he argued. This will ensue that the government “can better reflect the public that it serves.”

Speaking live on BBC Radio Wales, Hills argued that, even with home working, “Welsh Government is managing to do the things it needs to ensure the continued provision of quality public services for citizens across Wales”. He described the approach to hybrid working in Welsh Government as a win for workers, employers, the environment and the taxpayer. 

Hills words were also reported in the Daily Mail.