Employees who live outside of major towns and cities risk being negatively affected if offices don’t return to working full-time in the office, according to rural broadband specialist Voneus, as reported in Bdaily this week

Voneus said it is well-known that data connectivity in many rural areas “isn’t up to scratch”, and now the fact that employers are looking to shift to a hybrid model of working could risk entrenching further the digital divide between urban and rural regions.

This follows research published by the BBC that revealed almost all 50 of the UK's biggest employers have said they do not plan to bring staff back to the office full-time.

The Bdaily report highlights how high bandwidth activities like video calling have become ubiquitous in the past year, which in some rural areas is “an impossibility” due to poor internet connectivity.

Voneus said “remote working becoming widespread should open up more careers to a wider range of individuals. However, the fact that the infrastructure simply isn’t there risks excluding even more people, as those who live in rural areas might find themselves at a disadvantage to their city-dwelling peers.”

Full articles:

Bdaily - Rural workers at a disadvantage if a full-time office return is out – Voneus CEO

BBC - No full-time return to the office for over a million