Three million UK workers may move to a post-pandemic four-day week study finds

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More than a million British companies employing three million workers could move to a four-day working week after the Covid crisis, a study has found.

A survey by the charity Be The Business said 18 per cent of firms were considering the idea to boost employees’ productivity.

And five per cent of small and medium-sized businesses – some 300,000 – have already brought in the change, analyses by the Autonomy think tank said.

It comes as around 22,000 staff at PwC were told they can spend around half their working hours at home and end shifts early on Fridays in the summer.

The company said the ‘Deal’ would allow workers to spend on average 40 per cent to 60 per cent of their time on remote working, if they choose.

PwC’s lead is likely to be closely watched by other chief executives. Nationwide has told staff in offices they can work wherever they want, but Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon rejected remote working as a ‘new normal’ and labelled it an ‘aberration’.

BP has said it is introducing a hybrid model where workers typically do a 60:40 split between home and office.

PwC will also introduce a ’empowered day’ when staff can have the choice on any given day what the most effective working pattern might be – such as an earlier start and finish time.

PWC told its 22,000 staff they will be expected to spend just 40 per cent to 60 per cent of their time face-to-face with their colleagues when lockdown ends.

That will translate as two to three days a week in the office for the Big Four accountancy group’s employees.

The auditor has also given staff a half-day on Fridays in July and August on the assumption that most will finish at lunchtime. It is part of a series of measures PwC chief Kevin Ellis is calling ‘the Deal’.

Most major employers are trying to figure out how to bring staff back to the office as vaccine rollouts ease the stipulations on people to work from home. 

Director of Research at Autonomy Will Stronge said: ‘All the evidence shows that moving to a four-day week is a win-win for both employers and workers – and this is why we’re seeing increasing adoption across sectors.

‘The best way to create a better world of work after Covid is by addressing how we work at the shop floor level.

‘Going for a four-day working week would bring huge benefits to workers’ mental health, which directly feeds into firm performance.’

Microsoft and Unilever are some of the big firms to have trialled cutting working hours.

Joe Ryle, a campaigner with the 4 Day Week Campaign, said: ‘In the same way that the weekend and the 40 hour week was won nearly a century ago, the time has now come for a four-day, 32 hour working week for all.

He added: ‘The Covid pandemic has effectively killed off the 9-5, 5 day working week.’

PwC staff will be expected to spend the rest of the time around their colleagues, either in the offices, or alongside clients.

In July and August, a majority of staff will also be able to go home, or power down if they are already at home, at lunchtime on Fridays. 

Chairman Kevin Ellis said: ‘We’ve long promoted flexible working, and we hope today’s announcements make it much more the norm rather than the exception. We want our people to feel trusted and empowered.

‘These changes are in direct response to soundings from our people, who’ve said they value a mix of working from home and in the office.’

He continued: ‘We want to help enshrine new working patterns so they outlast the pandemic.

‘Without conscious planning now there’s a risk we lose the best bits of these new ways of working when the economy opens up again.’

Companies around the UK are being forced to consider how they will return their staff to work when restrictions end.

Under the current schedule, office workers will be able to return to their places of work in June, however this could change if the pandemic shifts.

Other companies which have embraced a hybrid model or full-time home working include BP and Nationwide.

Laura Hinton, chief people officer at PwC, said: ‘The policies will be phased in as lockdown restrictions ease and more people return to the office over the coming months.’

‘Surge’ in demand for office space in the City of London reveals bosses ARE planning the end of WFH – but experts predict new ‘hybrid’ model will see staff continuing to log-in at home but travel in for training and meetings  

The City of London is seeing a ‘real surge’ in planning applications for office space despite the Government’s work-from-home guidance being set to remain in place for some months, officials revealed earlier this week.

Bosses said the Corporation has so far received 80 per cent of all the applications submitted last year, although firms are looking at using their offices on different hours and days compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Corporation’s planning committee has already approved more than two million square feet of office floor space within Square Mile developments this year, which compares to 2.6million sq ft approved in all of last year.

Three towers have been cleared for construction this year – the 30-storey 55 Gracechurch Street (366,000 sq ft), the nearby 33-storey 70 Gracechurch Street (786,000 sq ft) and the 38-storey 2 Finsbury Avenue (897,000 sq ft).

The Corporation has also reported around 818 new start-ups appearing across the Square Mile in 2020. Some 48 per cent were in financial, professional and associated business services, while 9 per cent were in technology.

It comes as rush-hour traffic congestion levels in London remained down on last week, while Underground usage is at just a quarter of normal levels and bus usage is at half – with both also down on the previous week. 

TomTom traffic data for London showed congestion levels on the roads were at 52 per cent Tuesday morning, which was slightly up on 50 per cent on Monday, but significantly down on 66 per cent at the same time last week.

It was also far below the 2019 average of 67 per cent, but roughly in line with the 2020 average of 53 per cent. The congestion level represents the extra travel time for drivers on average compared to baseline uncongested conditions – so a 52 per cent figure means a 30-minute trip will take about 15 minutes more than with no traffic. 

Transport for London said there were 600,000 entries and exits on the Tube on Monday, which was 3 per cent down from the previous Monday and represented just 27 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

On the buses there were 870,000 boarding taps on Oyster or contactless cards on Monday, which was down 4 per cent from the previous Monday – but at 52 per cent of normal demand; much higher than on the Tubes.

The Government’s ‘stay at home’ order ended on Monday, with messaging now moving to ‘stay local’, but people are still being asked to continue to work from home where possible and most overseas travel remains banned. 

Catherine McGuinness, policy chair of the City of London Corporation, said: ‘We really are expecting people to come back, but in a different way, to use their offices in a different way, different hours, different days.’

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, she added: ‘But we’re expecting that buzz and vitality definitely to return and indeed can’t wait to see it. Certainly the people who are servicing the office workers – the shops, the cafes and so on – if the footfall changes dramatically, that’s going to be a challenge for them.

‘But what people are telling us is that they are expecting their central office base to remain at the core of the business with people coming in three or four days, working different hours. 

‘So we are expecting the bulk of the return. What it will mean in terms of the overall footfall we’re not yet quite clear, but we really are expecting life and excitement and people on the streets using those services as soon as they can get there.’ 

Asked about the idea of vaccine passports meaning offices could operate with no social distancing, Ms McGuinness said: ‘It’s too early, obviously if that proposal does come out people would look at it closely but they’d have to speak to their workforce. I think it’s too early to say whether that would actually take hold.

‘But whatever happens people are telling us at the moment that they want to build on what they’ve learnt through this period, that – as you’ve heard from Nationwide – they are expecting some degree of hybridity, they are expecting people to want to work from home for some days, but then to come into the office for collaboration, for training, whatever, on other days.’

And speaking about why she is confident of a return to the office, she said: ‘We are already seeing in our planning applications a real surge in interest in getting office space in the City. 

‘I think so far this year 80 per cent of all the applications we saw last year. So continued interest, continued commitment to that office space but a different way of using it.’

Work-from-home guidance is set to remain in place for some months, despite outdoor gatherings and sport resuming across England.

Asked if it was still the plan that the work-from-home guidance was going to stay in force until June 21, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said on Monday: ‘From the road map, it remains the case that people must continue to only go to work if it’s not reasonable for them to work from home.

‘Business and workers have made huge efforts throughout the past year or so to support that.’

He added: ‘The work-from-home guidance remains that we continue to ask people to only go to work if they can’t reasonably work from home.’

Asked about the Government’s long-term plan for civil servants, the spokesman said: ‘We’ve committed to consulting on making flexible working the default unless employers have good reasons not to. That consultation will be launched in due course.’ 

Last week it was revealed Nationwide had given its 13,000 office workers the choice of deciding where they want to work in order to give them more control over their lives under a huge work from home plan.

The lending giant said it would put office staff in control of deciding where they are based according to their job once Covid-19 restrictions end, after more than half – 57 per cent – said they wanted to work from home full-time. More than a third – 36 per cent – said they preferred a mix of home and office-based work.

Under the plan, Nationwide is leaving three offices in Swindon, with 3,000 staff either moving to the nearby HQ, working from home, or mixing the two. All three offices are based just outside Swindon town centre, in Aspect Park and Windmill Business Park.

Other UK staff may be able to work from their local High Street branch if they prefer, rather than travel to offices.

Also last week the London Chamber of Commerce said a study revealed that almost two-thirds of employers have allowed staff to work from home at least two days a week as a result of the pandemic.

Just over half of respondents said they will continue remote working in some form each week when the pandemic is over.

Companies across the UK are looking at how to tackle the issue of remote versus office working once lockdown ends, with many backing a hybrid model.

The work from home initiative has also seen footfall in the country’s town and city centres drop dramatically.

Office for National Statistics data shows that people who worked exclusively from home decreased in the week ending March 14 by six percentage points from the previous week, to 30 per cent.

The number of people who travelled to work – either exclusively or in combination with working from home – increased by five percentage points from the previous week, to 53 per cent.

The High Street has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic as people were told to stay inside for several national lockdowns.

Last month analysis from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) showed 27,096 jobs have been shed and 1,023 stores have been earmarked for closure so far in 2021.

Earlier this year, economists KPMG estimated that even after lockdown restrictions are lifted, shopper numbers could be a third below pre-pandemic levels as fewer people travel to work – and ecommerce booms.

Businesses based at Canary Wharf and in the City of London have said they will follow Government guidance in deciding when to send staff back to the office.

Some, including JP Morgan and HSBC, have suggested they may move to a hybrid model of working – a combination of working from home and the office – as the Covid restrictions are eased.

Canary Wharf-based KPMG said the ‘vast majority’ will continue to work from home at this stage. 

The Prime Minister urged people to remain cautious as the relaxation of lockdown measures in England coincides with an ongoing ‘exceptionally warm’ spell of weather.

Across the country on Monday, people made the most of sunny conditions and the easing of rules which means groups of up to six, or two households, are now able to socialise in parks and gardens while outdoor sports facilities can reopen.

The lifting of some restrictions saw golfers return to the fairways and swimmers take the plunge in outdoor pools as temperatures rose.

According to the Met Office, the mercury reached 68.7F (20.4C) at St James’s Park in central London and Writtle in Essex on Monday – the highest temperature recorded in the UK this year.

Temperatures are set to climb further above average and could yet top 75F (24C) tomorrow in an area covering London, East Anglia and the East Midlands, the Met Office said.

Boris Johnson acknowledged Monday was a ‘big day’ for many people as they could reunite in socially-distanced friend and family groups outdoors for the first time in weeks.

The Prime Minister said he hoped people would take advantage of the ‘beautiful weather’ to play sport or exercise, while also emphasising the country should still ‘proceed with caution’.

‘I know how much Government has asked of the people in the last year, but I also know how magnificently – incredible patience and fortitude – people have responded,’ he told a Downing Street press conference on Monday.

‘It’s my view, overwhelmingly, people are determined to continue to do that and they do understand the need for caution.’

Separately, Mr Johnson, along with 23 world leaders including Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, wrote in The Daily Telegraph and other papers across the world about the need to form a ‘new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response’, adding: ‘The Covid-19 pandemic has been a stark and painful reminder that nobody is safe until everyone is safe.’

Amid fears of a new wave of coronavirus spreading from Europe, Mr Johnson highlighted that it was still not clear how ‘robust’ the defences provided by the Covid-19 vaccination programme would prove if such a rise in infections hits the UK.

‘What we don’t know is exactly how strong our fortifications now are, how robust our defences are against another wave,’ he said.

‘We have seen what is happening with our European friends. Historically, at least there has been a time lag and then we have had a wave ourselves.

‘That’s why I stress the importance of everybody maintaining the discipline people have shown for so long.’

An Ipsos Mori poll suggested Britons are much less concerned about Covid-19 than they were a month ago.

The survey of 1,009 adults in early March found 49 per cent of people felt the pandemic was a big issue for the UK, down from 72 per cent in February.

Mike Clemence, associate research director at the polling firm, said: ‘Concern is notably lower among older age groups, which may suggest the vaccination campaign is having an impact on public perceptions – although worries are also lower among the youngest Britons who will not yet have been vaccinated.’

England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said there was a ‘high likelihood’ cases would rise as lockdown restrictions were steadily lifted under the Government’s road map.

He added, however, that the impact should be ‘modest’ if people continued to follow social-distancing guidelines.

‘If people stick to social distancing rules and they are outside, the risk of transmission is massively lower than if they are very close together and inside,’ Mr Whitty said.

‘Provided people stick to outdoors and at a distance if it’s people who are not in their households, the impact in terms of an uptick should be modest.’

Temperatures in March have not gone above 75F (24C) since March 29, 1968, when 78.1F (25.6C) was recorded in Mepal in Cambridgeshire.

Steven Keates, a Met Office meteorologist, said: ‘If we do get above 24C it will be the highest UK March temperature in 53 years. It seems a reasonable chance that’s going to happen.’

He added: ‘It’s an exceptionally warm spell of weather with potential for some records to be challenged.’

Mr Keates said conditions would turn ‘cooler’ through Thursday ahead of the arrival of the Easter weekend.

He said Scotland’s highest temperature of the year was equalled by the 66.7F (19.3C) at Aboyne in Aberdeenshire on Monday and a new top temperature for 2021 so far in Northern Ireland was set by the 63.1F (17.3C) recorded at Helen’s Bay in County Down.

In Wales, the stay local order ended on Saturday and people were allowed to stay in self-contained holiday accommodation. The stay home order in Scotland is to end on Friday, while in Northern Ireland up to six people, or two households, will be able to meet outdoors from Thursday.