50 top bosses say workers cannot return without clear rules
FIFTY major employers have “no plans” to return all staff to offices full-time putting many city centre businesses in further financial jeopardy, a study showed today.
The findings revealed that home working was becoming a permanent feature for many firms amid ongoing concerns over public transport and social distancing.
Twenty-four said they had no plans in place to bring workers back to offices while 20 said they had provided some office space for those unable to work from home.
The poll, conducted by the BBC, included a range of companies from banks to retailers. It found that many were struggling to adapt office spaces to make provision for social distancing guidelines.
It comes after an investigation by the Standard this month revealed a host of FTSE 100 firms were not expecting all staff to return to headquarters at all this year with a knock-on effect on the tens of thousands of jobs, particularly in cafes, restaurants and shops. Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of the New West Company representing retailers, called for a strong political message that more workers should return to officers.
He said that last weekend West End shops had half the number of customers compared to the same time last year. Mr Tyrrell said: “We are
encouraging a very strong instruction from the Prime Minister and the current mayor of London to encourage Londoners back to the office and work that’s the only way we are going to survive this year for the retail and hospitality in the West End.”
He added that without extended relief on business rates there would be more redundancies in the retail decor in London.
Sam Hart who owns the Quo Vadis restaurant chain as well as Barrafina and Fino said lunchtimes were particularly quiet as office workers failed to filter back in sufficient numbers. He said: “We are hoping the offices will go back. This cannot be the new normal.”
RBS said about 49,000 of the bank’s staff in the UK will continue to work from home into 2021. Graeme Pitkethly, finance chief of consumer goods group Unilever, said it “will be a while” before staff return fully to its Victoria Embankment HQ.
Sir Martin Sorrell, the advertising guru who now runs S4 Capital, said: “The Government is saying that all of the ecosystems around the office are crumbling, it is a desert, so we have to get back to work. But the policies are mixed, there is confusion in my mind as to what we are supposed to do.”
Facebook has said its staff will not return to the office before July 2021.
Tej Parikh, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said: “Even when the obstacles are cleared, getting back to normal will be an uphill struggle. For employers and workers remote working has worked better than expected.” Kevin Ellis, chairman of accountancy giant PwC, today said 8,000 of its 22,000 staff had so far returned to one of its 20 offices around the country.
He hopes half will be back by the end of next month but said the trend towards flexible hours and working from home had been hastened by coronavirus. He told the BBC: “It was happening anyway — 10 per cent worked flexibly and the pandemic has accelerated that.”
Business leaders predict that 50,000 jobs in the retail, tourism and hospitality sectors could disappear in the West End alone this year with total spending down by half — a loss of revenue of around £5 billion — as a direct result of the coronavirus lockdown.