Workers ignore Sunak’s call to return to city centre offices

WORKERS have ignored the Chancellor’s call to go back to city centre offices and stayed at home since the lifting of the Government’s advice on July 19.

Employees have not rushed back to workplaces in the weeks following “freedom day” with the number of staff in the office remaining stagnant at 11.7pc at the end of July, according to data from Remit Consulting.

That is only marginally higher than the 11.1pc before the guidance changed as swathes of firms switch to a “hybrid” model, splitting staff time between home and the office.

Meanwhile, Google data tracking movement has even suggested a dropoff since the advice shift with activity around offices during a quieter holiday period still down 43pc on pre-covid levels.

After no signs of a pick-up since July 19, experts expect September to be a moment of truth for city centres. Signs of businesses and staff embracing the remote work revolution come as Rishi Sunak urges young people to return to offices to help their careers. The Treasury is said to be concerned about the impact of a permanent shift to hybrid working on city centres.

“If it stays at that level, it is deeply concerning because you can’t operate offices at just 10pc occupancy,” said Zachary Gauge, analyst at UBS.

“From September time, we’ll start to get more of a feel of what that actually looks like… most people will have had two jabs and that’s the point that corporates will start to take more of a hardline approach to people coming back into the office.”

Lorna Landells, analyst at Remit Consulting, said there has been “a slow increase” in office staff returning but added that a large proportion is “clearly continuing to work remotely”.

She added: “It is difficult to see a marked increase in these figures until

the holiday season comes to an end. The question for September will be whether ‘back to school’ will also mean ‘back to the office’?”

The Office for National Statistics’ latest growth estimates for June, published this week, are set to show an advance of 1pc over the month – high by pre-covid standards but leaving the economy still 2.5pc below its pre-pandemic peak, according to Nomura economist George Buckley.

Growth is set to have risen by 5pc over the April to June quarter – the biggest since the 16.9pc surge last summer following the first lockdown.

But Mr Buckley said: “It might be a lot of effort to get back that last 2.5pc. The rebound has happened. We are now clawing back what we lost over the last year [but] people are not doing as much as they were before.”

In the last week of July, the share of UK adults who travelled to work at least one day a week dropped from 61pc to 57pc, while almost a quarter of adults worked exclusively from home, according to the ONS.

Retail footfall also remains more than a fifth below pre-covid levels.