ITV presenter Richard Madeley annoyed viewers this morning when he seemed to criticise people working from home.
He made the comments while he appeared on GMB with Susanna Reid. During a discussion with a conservative MP, Richard questioned why some civil servants were still not back in the office.
MP Rachel Maclean said that staff were doing a mixture of home working and in the office, but the TV presenter wasn't convinced. He went as far as saying he would be sacked if he was to do the same.
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He also claimed that it can be hard to monitor work performance for those at home, reports the Daily Star. Richard said: "In the days when I was a newspaper reporter, if I phoned my editor and said 'I'm working from home today' trust me, I would have had a P45 in the mail the next day."
He also said if people are working from home then how do you know they are not on the golf course, or doing their laundry. He finished by saying the pandemic was over and people should be back in the office.
Offering a balanced view, Susanna chimed: "Times have changed though, to be fair." But as the presenter showed his evident concern, viewers at home fumed at Richard's stance and complained that Richard shouldn't be so bothered about where people chose to work.
Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: "Why does Richard Madeley care so much where people are working their desk jobs? What difference does it actually make to him?" While @foarkley said: "He wants everyone to be back in the office because they knock off at midday and spend the afternoons in the pub… Like they did in 1972."
Another furious viewer commented: "#RichardMadeley losing his head because apparently he pays civil servants wages & they shouldn’t be working from home?! Pretty sure they pay their own wages too pal, if they’re paying tax!!! give your head a wobble Richard."
A third said: "Hey @richardm56 when you started as a reporter the internet hadn’t been invented. With emails, shared files and videoconferencing, everything you could do in an office can be done from home."
While a fourth shared: "Richard Madeley needs to get out the dark ages. What absolute nonsense. If he thinks putting 3 hours of daily commute back into my day makes me more productive that’s rubbish. Suggest he concentrates on his own performance levels."
