Employees head back to the office – but ‘working life has changed forever’
Some employees will be heading back to the office today, but a business boss believes the coronavirus pandemic has changed how we work forever.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said employees can return to work if safe from today, with the government keen to see people back in the office and spending money. The likelihood is that people who can work from home will not be returning to the office in their droves, given the convenience and mounting concerns over a second wave of Covid-19 amid rising infection rates and local lockdowns elsewhere in the UK.
Shropshire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Richard Sheehan said more than 60 per cent of businesses surveyed in the county will be getting workers back in this week, but said savings and work/life balance benefits will mean many firms won’t operate in the same way as pre-pandemic.
He said: “From our survey, around 65 per cent of businesses in Shropshire are doing some sort of return to the office. Some of those will be phased returns, some will be bringing furloughed staff back in who’ve been off.
“A lot of businesses are very pleased with the productivity levels of staff who have been working from home. I think the homeworking environment is here to stay.”
He added: “People have been returning to work for some six weeks. I don’t think it will be like opening a tap with people flooding back. It will be more gradual. How ready businesses are, and how things look in the future, only time will tell.”
It’s likely that a return to the office will be a gradual one for many employees, while some companies are expected to allow many staff to continue to work from home in a move which may have been unimaginable pre-pandemic.
Dyke Yaxley Accountants, which has offices in Shrewsbury and Telford, has been welcoming people back gradually, and expects all who can work in the office back at some point over the next week.
Sean Gorman, director, said: “We’ve got some people who are coming back who can’t really work from home.
“But there are also those who are very happy working from home. We’re lucky that we’ve got an IT system that allows for both.
“Working from home as worked quite well for us. We’ve had Zoom meetings four times a week that have been fine. There hasn’t been a problem from the technology side.
“I’ve got some clients down in London who are saying getting into work could take them three hours because of all the queuing and social distancing. We’re lucky here in that sense that we don’t have the problems of a massive office in central London.”
Productivity
Like almost everywhere, Dyke Yaxley has had to put social distancing measures in place, but with similar systems already in place in shops, pubs, attractions and more, Sean thinks colleagues will take to the new protocols relatively easily.
“We’ve been working on a plan for everyone that can come in, to come in over the week, but with social distancing.
“We haven’t had too much to sort out. We’ve put lots of signs up and one-ways systems. We’ve done walk rounds and everything seems OK.
“We’ve had to do a bit of moving around. People normally sit in pods of four so we’ve got to make sure they are spaced out enough.”
A major concern for some bosses will have been whether workers could remain productive away from the office, but Shropshire Chamber of Commerce chief executive said many companies are happy with the work colleagues have managed, and so the bustling office could be a thing of the past for many.
“A lot of businesses are very pleased with the productivity levels of staff who have been working from home,” he said. “I think the home working environment is here to stay. The business community will be more flexible to accommodate home working.”
