Getting rid of the ‘ghost towns’
New campaign to show UK workers that it’s safe to return to the office
LONDON — The British government is encouraging workers to return to their offices amid concerns that the shift to working from home during the coronavirus pandemic is hurting coffee bars, restaurants and other businesses, leaving city centers virtual “ghost towns.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government is rolling out a media campaign this week that will encourage employers to show staff members what they have done to protect them from COVID-19 and make it safe to return to traditional workplaces.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said this was the right time for many people to return to their offices because their children will be going back to school this week. He also said prolonged isolation from friends and colleagues is taking a toll on workers, particularly young people.
“For many people’s mental health, it is important to return to a safe workplace. So that’s why workplaces are being made
COVID secure over the summer, and for a lot of people it will be the right time to return,” Shapps told the BBC. “Others, I accept, will carry on in a much more flexible way than they did in the past.”
The Confederation of British Industry has warned that office closings are taking a toll on the economy as traffic plunges at shops that rely on walk-in business. That impact was demonstrated last week when sandwich shop chain Pret a Manger announced plans to cut about 2,800 jobs around Britain after sales fell 60%.
The British government should expand coronavirus testing and highlight efforts to reduce virus transmission on trains and buses to encourage people to return to their offices, the CBI said.
It also claimed that bringing workers back into the office is also a matter of fairness, because many people can’t work from home and young people, in particular, are often forced to spend long hours in tiny apartments. The group represents 190,000 businesses employing over 7 million people.
“The costs of office closure are becoming clearer by the day. Some of our busiest city centers resemble ghost towns, missing the usual bustle of passing trade,” CBI Director General Carolyn Fairbairn said. “This comes at a high price for local businesses, jobs and communities.”
Fairbairn told Times Radio a “hybrid” approach that combines remote working with time in traditional workplaces was needed to help workers adjust.
The government has been nudging people back to work for several weeks but economic pressures are intensifying.
Treasury chief Rishi Sunak has ruled out extending a government program for furloughed workers beyond October as he seeks to jump-start a moribund economy. The government program covers up to 70% of the wages of furloughed workers, as long as employers promise to bring them back.
“I think there’s a limit, just in human terms, to remote working,” Shapps said.
But many workers are reluctant to return to the office with COVID-19 cases on the rise again and Britain already having the highest confirmed virus death toll in Europe at nearly 42,000.
Unions are urging employers to be flexible and recognize that the work world has changed.
Dave Penman, general secretary of the union that represents top civil servants, said government ministers are sounding like “dinosaurs.”
“Millions of employees are working from home very successfully whilst employers are recognizing that the world of work has changed and are embracing it,” he said in a tweet. “The genie won’t fit back in the bottle, best not try.”