UK workers grudgingly return to the office
Photo by Ed Robertson on Unsplash
City of London firms have had enough of pandemic working practises and are now ordering staff back to the office just days after the UK government U-turned on guidance that employees should work from home.
Major banks, including HSBC, Lloyds, and Goldman Sachs, plus law firms and insurers, are all insisting that workers return to their stations now that the threat of omicron is passing. The move signals a transition away from the “Plan B” measures the government put in place following the arrival of the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in December 2021. Changes come as the UK and London appear to now be past peak hospital admissions and the NHS is no longer under threat.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to keep work-from-home policies in place longer
News is not so bright over the border in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The three countries plan on maintaining guidance to work from home a little longer, following highly-restrictive local policies since the advent of the pandemic in March 2020.
Staff negotiations
Citigroup told its staff at the end of January that they needed to come into the office “at least three days per week” following COVID-19 Plan B restrictions. The firm said that it would continue to take lateral flow tests of employees thrice weekly, and hire commercial cleaners to ensure hygiene before the start of the working day.
Goldman Sachs is asking its 6,500 London staff to return to the office with immediate effect, in a strong turn of direction in its policy. However, it will still require all staff to wear masks in its buildings and subject themselves to mandatory testing.
Boost to business
Photo by João Barbosa on Unsplash
Other businesses in the City of London hope that the new tough stance with employees will boost business in the square mile, which has been something of a ghost town since the advent of the pandemic. Shops, restaurants and cafés are hoping for an increase in footfall that will lead to a reinvigoration of the area, and a return to conditions in 2019.
Accounting firms are also embracing the change in policy and responding to the reduced threat of omicron. EY, for instance, is asking 17,000 UK employees to return, saying that all desks will be available and staff will be “free to use meeting rooms or wear face masks as they decide.”
Senior executives and managers at the big four accounting firms welcome the government’s change in direction. A PwC spokesperson said that it values spending time alongside colleagues but continues to maintain the flexibility of working from home “when helpful.”
Lloyds said that it is now allowing people who were formerly working from home to return to the office and resume their usual duties. Other major banks, such as Natwest, JP Morgan and Barclays are yet to decide on their new policies, and will likely make announcements before the end of February.
Law firm Slaughter says that it is hoping to have more than 60 percent of its staff back in the office by the middle of February, with more to follow later.