LONDON - London lags behind other major global cities like Paris and Singapore when it comes to working in the office, raising concerns about both productivity and the British capital’s appeal as an international investment destination.
Full-time workers in London spend little more than half their working week in the office, the Centre for Cities think-tank said in a report published on Sept 3. While that is up compared with 2023, only Toronto puts in as little office time among the six international cities analysed, which included Paris, New York, Sydney and Singapore.
“London’s return to the office has been sluggish when viewed internationally, and many signs point to its trajectory falling further behind its global competitor cities,” the authors Rob Johnson and Oscar Selby wrote. “Less frequent face-to-face interaction between employees in central London would put the city at a productivity disadvantage relative to other global cities.”
The figures show how the pandemic has permanently reshaped working patterns, with many of those forced to work from home during Covid-19 lockdowns reluctant to return to the daily commute. In Britain, staff at the Office for National Statistics are taking industrial action after being told to work at least two days a week in the office, with unions insisting that working from home has had no adverse impact on productivity.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is counting on being able to turn around more than a decade of feeble productivity growth to fund the promises that helped his Labour Party win power in July.
Paris is top of the office attendance ranking with an average of 3.5 days per week, followed by Singapore with 3.2 and New York with 3.1. Central London employees only go to the office for 2.7 days per week on average, with attendance higher among 18- to 24-year-olds than their older colleagues.
The costs and length of commuting to work help explain why more London employees prefer their home offices. More than 40 per cent of London workers cited reduced travel costs as a perk of working from home, compared with an average of 34 per cent across all cities. They were also more likely to highlight time saved as a result of not having to commute.
Centre for Cities suggests there is leeway for toughening return-to-office rules across all major cities. Less than 10 per cent of workers said they would quit if the mandate were to increase, while most recognise the benefits of being in the office.
In London, incentives could include reducing travel costs, increasing office attendance in the public sector and measuring the impact of hybrid working on productivity at the national level.
“All the potential productivity implications of settling in to a ‘new normal’ of office working below pre-pandemic levels makes London’s trajectory more concerning,” the report said. BLOOMBERG
