Working week now three days, ONS reveals

The Office for National Statistics says pandemic has slashed the hours that workers spend at their jobs

BRITISH workers are now effectively working a three-day week compared to before the pandemic, new Government data suggests.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published data yesterday showing early insights into how the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the labour market.

The research included changes in vacancies and in actual hours worked and found that the average British worker now spends seven hours a week less on their jobs than before the crisis – almost a full working day.

The ONS tracked data from October 2018 to May 2019. It also tracked average hours spent working from October 2019 to April 2020.

Since lockdown was announced in March the monthly average for actual hours worked has declined sharply.

Between February and April this year the actual hours worked in the UK fell by around 21.4 per cent from 32 hours to 25.4 hours. This compared with averages the previous year at around 32 hours – meaning that, effectively, Britons are working the equivalent of a three-day week and that the traditional five-day week, of eight hours a day, is being left in the past.

The ONS data tracks the effects of the home-working revolution, resulting from the national lockdown.

Researchers found that the pandemic and the closure of workplaces was having a “clear impact” on the average actual hours worked in the UK.

The ONS concluded: “The impact of the pandemic on the labour market is still evolving.

“The future performance of the labour market will be shaped by what happens when the Government support schemes come to an end and how quickly business confidence builds up for firms to bring more workers out of furlough and to increase hiring.”

Christopher Snowdon, the head of lifestyle economics at the Institute for Economic Affairs, said: “From what I can gather, the reduction in hours worked reflects reduced capacity, even among the businesses that stayed open during lockdown.

“The exceptions are a few industries such as farming and health which you would not expect to be affected.

“We should expect this to continue for a long time as businesses try to cope with social distancing measures, lower footfall and a fearful population.”

Separate ONS data on home working, also published yesterday, found that in April this year 46.6 per cent of people in employment did some of their work from home.

Of those who did some work from home, 86 per cent did so as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Furthermore, of those who did some work from home, around one third worked fewer hours than usual (34.4 per cent), and around one third worked more hours than they did usually (30.3 per cent).

Researchers also found that women were slightly more likely to do some work at home than men, 47.5 per cent and 45.7 per cent respectively, while those aged 16 to 24 were less likely to work from home than older people.