Half (51%) of employers revealed that they are fully-office based, compared to 7% in 2023, according to new research by Unit4.
For its 2025 State of digital report, the enterprise cloud applications firm surveyed 400 public sector decision makers.
It revealed that only 15% of respondents operate a fully remote working model compared to 37% in 2023, and 49% operate some form of hybrid model now as opposed to 93% in 2023.
There has been a reduction in employers’ ability to recruit from a wider geographic area as a result of remote and hybrid working, falling from 43% in 2023 to 23% in 2025. A quarter (24%) said they struggle to recruit due to return-to-office or working location mandates.
Employers’ ability to recruit staff with the right skills has dropped from 41% in 2023 to 35% in 2025. In contrast to the international average, 41% have seen an improvement in finding people with the right skills, compared to 36% in 2023.
Meanwhile, 17% said it is harder to retain skilled workers compared to 13% in 2023, while 11% cannot find the right recruits, a fall from 27% in 2023. More than a third (38%) said it is easier to recruit staff with greater or technical expertise, compared to just 3% in 2023.
Mark Gibbison, AVP global public sector and higher education at Unit4, said: “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. 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.”
