WFH sees full-time commuters drop 85pc

THE rise of working from home saw the number of people commuting five days a week fall to only 15 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, a report reveals.

Separate figures suggest Britain is lagging far behind Europe in returning to the office.

Total commuter journeys fell to just 45 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, and only 41 per cent into London, according to analysis by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS).

But five-day-a-week, peak-hour commuting has taken the hardest hit – with levels down by 85 per cent compared to pre-Covid levels, the think tank said. The data is based on Office of Rail and Road figures published in March covering the last quarter of 2021.

Ministers removed the guidance to work from home on July 19 last year, but reinstated it on December 8 to help tackle the spread of the Omicron variant.

Boris Johnson scrapped the advice with immediate effect in January, and said he wanted Whitehall civil servants back at their desks to set an example.

Commuter numbers are still more than 20 per cent below pre-pandemic levels, according to a separate analysis based on comparing Google mobility data for May 12 to levels in February 2020.

Other major European economies have seen a much greater return to the offices, the data suggests.

Germany is only 7 per cent below pre-pandemic commuter numbers, while France and Spain are 9 per cent down, according to the Financial Times.

Critics of home working say it makes staff less productive and creative, damages career prospects and harms the economies of town centres.

In an interview with the Daily Mail at the weekend, Mr Johnson accused home workers of spending too much time eating.

Yesterday food tsar Henry Dimbleby, the founder of Leon restaurants, backed the PM’s comments, telling the BBC: ‘It is certainly the case that – and there are loads of studies to show this – if food is within arm’s reach, one eats it unconsciously. The best thing you can do if you are in a meeting with a plate of biscuits is to put it down the other end of the table.

‘So if you are sitting in your kitchen working, I wouldn’t be surprised... that you might well, unconsciously or while on the phone, nip into the fridge and pop in a little slice of cheese without really noticing it.’

But last night Tory grandee Sir Iain Duncan Smith said ‘astonishing’ figures showed the Government needs to do more to encourage an end to ‘WFH’ culture.

‘Lots of people aren’t commuting any more and productivity will have fallen,’ he said.

‘The Government has got to do more to attract people back into the office and make it clear that we are productive and it is better for people’s mental health.’

The CPS warned that unless the railways can adapt to the new travelling environment, there was a risk of a spiral of ‘decline’.

‘Productivity will have fallen’

WITH the days getting warmer and the nights lighter, the lure of working from home is easy to understand.

More time spent with loved ones or in the garden, less on the ghastly commute. But with Britain on the brink of an economic downturn, the country needs to pull together to get through the storms ahead.

With Covid in the rear-view mirror, we can no longer afford the luxury of absenteeism from the office. But while European nations are returning to work with gusto, Britain’s white-collar workers are digging in their heels – not least our slothful civil servants.

Yet the truth is that in most jobs, face-toface working is essential to efficient performance. Indeed, working from home has been abysmal for delivering public services. Moreover, you don’t need to be a career adviser to see how office life is vital for building relationships and developing skills. And let’s not forget the damage stayaway workers are causing to our city centres, with many shops, restaurants and bars reliant on their custom.

Unless we snap out of this self-indulgence and power up Britain again, the looming recession will become a catastrophe.