No jump in workers returning to offices following ‘freedom day’, but West End performs well in London

July 19 was when lockdown rules eased further, but there has not been a significant rise in staff numbers returning to offices since then, new data suggests.

Remit Consulting has been looking at figures provided by building managers. The number of people entering as a percentage of the capacity for each building has been analysed.

Lorna Landells at the company said the study, which analyses over 150 buildings in nine cities, established that, prior to July 19, the average number of office staff attending their place of work on any given weekday fluctuated around 11% for six weeks.

Landells added: “There was no significant change in the figures for the week of ‘freedom day’ when the national average was 11.5%, an increase of just 0.4% compared to the week before.”

Numerous companies have had office-based staff working from home since March 2020, although some landlords have reported increasing occupation levels of office sites in recent months.

The government is no longer instructing people to work from home if they can, but a gradual return over the summer is expected, with many employers unlikely to ask everyone back at the same time.

Flexible working, with employers offering a mix of home and office hours post-pandemic , is expected to become more common.

Landells listed a number of factors that could have impacted the return to office by some people, including the so-called recent ‘pingdemic’ leaving many workers having to self-isolate. There was also the start of the school holidays, meaning a number of staff could be on annual leave.

In London the research suggests that the West End is outperforming other parts of the capital in terms of employees returning.

Remit said that that the average number of staff in the workplace reached 16.5% in the West End last week, compared to 6.1% in Midtown, 6.5% in Docklands and 9.8% in the Square Mile.

The average for London as a whole stood at 10.9%.