London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Workers in London have been lagging to return to the office than those in other global cities such as Paris and New York, a report has discovered.
London was around the bottom of the pack, with office attendance comparable to levels in Toronto and Sydney, according to an analysis by the Centre for Cities thinktank, which surveyed workers and employers in six big cities.
How Does Office Attendance in London Compare to Other Global Cities?
Employees in central London spend 2.7 days a week in the office on average, up from 2.2 days a week last year, the poll discovered. However, that was less than employees in Paris, who come in 3.5 days a week, while those in Singapore follow 3.2 days a week and workers in New York’s central business district spend 3.1 days in the office. London’s results were comparable to Toronto, where the average office attendance is 2.7 days a week, and Sydney, where the figure was 2.8 days a week.
London’s offices are devoid of all the cities. It is also the only city where younger employees come into the office more often than their old colleagues, the report found. People in their 20s are in the office three days a week, on average, while those over 35 go in for two and a half days.
“In London, a quarter of workers come into the office just one or two days – that’s the most of any city,” stated Rob Johnson, an analyst at the think tank and the author of the report. “So you’ve got quite a lot of workers who are quite tenuously linked to their offices. London’s offices on a Friday are the emptiest of all the cities and we see the sharpest drop from the midweek average.”
What Factors Contribute to Lower Office Attendance in London?
Travel expenses are more of a barrier to office working in London than in any other city, the report stated. It recommended that Transport for London should renew and extend its off-peak Fridays policy to reduce travel costs.
In March, the capital’s transport authority undertook a three-month trial of off-peak fares all day on Fridays on its network, including the underground, the Docklands Light Railway, the overground, the Elizabeth Line and some National Rail services across London and the south-east.
How Can London’s Office Attendance Issues Be Addressed?
Employees’ attitudes suggest very few merely do not like being in the office, and businesses with budgets for “perks” or office revamp to attract workers back might find their money better paid on subsidising commutes instead, the report stated. Centre for Cities recommended that business leaders should instruct by example. “More senior staff coming into the office could improve decision-making, productivity and the development of younger colleagues,” it stated.