The cold snap sends workers scurrying back to warm offices

PLUNGING winter temperatures are sending remote workers hurrying back to warm offices as cash-strapped staff count their pennies.

Research from employment website Cv-library showed that a fifth of 1,7000 professionals said they had changed their working patterns and returned to the office as a result of recent freezing weather. Of those, more than 40 per cent said that they had gone to the office “purely to save on heating bills”.

Lee Biggins, Cv-library’s founder and CEO, said: “Britain’s greatest obsession is often reported to be the weather but its impact on the economy is a serious topic.

“The knock-on impacts of severe weather aren’t just limited to reduced consumer spending and supply and distribution issues.”

‘Britain’s greatest obsession is often reported to be the weather but its impact on the economy is serious’

About half of those polled by the company said recent cold weather had not affected their working pattern, while 10 per cent said that they would have liked to go back to the office but could not because of unreliable public transport.

Most of Britain’s rail network was hit by strikes last month and the early part of this month, with rail unions rejecting pay rises last week and announcing fresh strikes for February.

Job adverts for fully remote posts declined for the seventh straight month in November, according to data from Linkedin, with just one in 10 vacancies now offering full remote working.

Josh Graff, Linkedin’s managing director for Europe, told The Telegraph last month: “Leaders are tightening their grip as they prepare for continued uncertainty in 2023, and that’s translating into companies pulling back on remote work.”