Reopening for U.K.'s office workers falls flat

On Monday, England's white-collar workers will be free from government guidance telling them to work from home. Few executives are planning for a stampede back to long-neglected desks.

In the City of London, even banks that have been relatively vocal in their support for a widespread return to the office aren't planning for a return to normal anytime soon. Face masks and rotational schedules will remain at JPMorgan Chase & Co. as it maintains a 50-percent occupancy limit at its offices in England.

Bank of America Corp. is expecting just a few hundred more staff to return out of a total London employee base of 4,500. Deutsche Bank AG is gradually encouraging more employees to spend more time in the office over the summer on a voluntary basis. That cautious approach is being replicated by businesses across the U.K. as a surge in cases and the requirement to self-isolate for those who cross paths with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 feeds nerves among even vaccinated employees about any return.

Even September may underwhelm with plenty of firms planning for different working arrangements. Revolut Ltd. announced back in February that it would stick with permanent flexible working. The fintech's Canary Wharf offices are to be redesigned and repurposed as flexible collaboration spaces. “I don't think we really see `return to the office day' as a big event in our London office,” a spokesperson for Revolut said.

PPG Industries Inc., the world's largest paint and coatings company, will continue to offer flexible work, including to its 2,400 employees in the U.K. “It's hard to argue that working from home hasn't worked out,” CEO Michael McGarry said.

Even those splashing out on new offices aren't racing back to their desks. Arcadis NV, the engineering firm that opened a new City of London office on June 14, will increase its workplace capacity from 60 to 100 on July 19. But the majority of its employees in the U.K. capital will still be largely at home despite its new digs.

“Employees will have complete autonomy to manage where they work, in a way that best suits their needs,” U.K. CEO Mark Cowlard said, echoing a widespread theme of increased choice. The design of the new Arcadis office reflects that, with 20 different types of workspaces and 40-per-cent less office space than its predecessor. Other businesses, including Standard Chartered PLC, are also reshaping their offices.

In the U.K., rising case numbers have already dampened even the government's enthusiasm for a wholesale return to work on Monday. Health Secretary Sajid Javid last week warned there could be as many as 100,000 U.K. cases a day throughout summer — more than double Thursday's 48,553, which also saw the highest number of deaths since March 25.

And while the government will scrap its work from home guidance on Monday, it isn't easing other policies including the rule to self-isolate for fully vaccinated contacts of people who have tested positive for COVID. That won't be removed until Aug. 16.

The Confederation of British Industry says such mixed messaging will leave offices empty. “If I went to the pub last night and got pinged by track and trace, even if I test negative I still have eight days of isolation,” CBI spokesman Mark Mistry told Bloomberg.