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\t\tFormer England manager Southgate hates working from home practices. \t<\/p>\n\t\t\tWednesday 09 September 2026 11:20 am
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tWednesday 09 September 2026 11:21 am\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\tFormer England manager Southgate hates working from home practices. \t<\/p>\n
Former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate has said he is against working from home and argued that young people need workplace mentors to develop their careers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On a trip with the Neets tsar Alan Milburn, Southgate hit out at companies\u2019 working from home policies and linked it to the joblessness crisis facing under 25-year-olds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019ve realised a little bit too late in my life is that one of the brilliant things about being in football was I had a coach every day of my life, but also this other support system of people \u2013 physios, kit men,\u201d Southgate<\/a> said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got this support network of people that you know companies, businesses can provide. It\u2019s one of the reasons I hate working from home.\u201d<\/p>\n He was speaking on a trip with Milburn to the Netherlands ahead of the completion of a review on why many young people are out of employment, education and training.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The ex-England boss, who has become a top campaigner exploring problems facing boys and men, said young people \u201cneed those mentors\u201d who take care of them and help juniors through more difficult moments.\u00a0<\/p>\n Southgate also hit out at the tax burden on businesses, warning that employers\u2019 national insurance contributions and other cost increases have deterred firms in sectors such as retail and hospitality from taking on new staff.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you speak to people that run bars or restaurants, that\u2019s what they would say is inhibiting them from employing young people,\u201d Southgate said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey will see risk in having to take on additional costs and not being certain of the outcomes, and I think again that\u2019s where a mix of changing the mindset of how we look at these things, but also perhaps aided by some changes in policy, could really make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tNscale doubles London office space as UK staff grows sixfold<\/a><\/p>\n \tWorking from home linked to Neets crisis<\/p>\n Several business bosses including JP Morgan\u2019 Jamie Dimon and the former Marks & Spencer chairman Lord Stuart Rose are among the chief critics of working from home.\u00a0<\/p>\n Working from home is not explicitly mentioned in Milburn\u2019s interim report<\/a> on Neets, which said that the cost of youth unemployment reached up to \u00a3125bn each year from direct economic potential lost, smaller tax revenue and scarring on career progression.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, Milburn attacked online recruitment practices as firms had opted to integrate AI into selection processes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Working from home has jumped in the last six years since the pandemic. Some firms, including Lloyd\u2019s of London<\/a>, allowed staff to work more hours from home due to heatwaves.\u00a0<\/p>\n Other bosses pushed to bring employees back to offices more regularly.<\/p>\n