Working From Home
How new ways of working are changing London
The latest figures from The Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) have appeared this morning showing the number of passengers using trains each day throughout Great Britain. The figures are updated to include January to March 2022, so they give a very good indication of rail use as the worst effects of the pandemic wain.
And it’s perfectly clear, as if we didn’t already know it, that things simply aren’t going to go back to where they were pre-pandemic as far as travelling to and from work is concerned.
The figures show that on weekdays, passenger numbers locally are barely 60 per cent of what they were pre pandemic (this is looking at figures from our three local rail operators – London Overground, Southern and Thameslink). Weekend numbers look far healthier as passengers use the trains for shopping, leisure and “going out”.
60 per cent of London workers are now in “hybrid” work (working from home part of the week and going to work for the remainder of the week). Three in four (73%) of London workers think we’re never returning to the previous way of working where most people come into their workplace five or more days a week.
A recent King’s College London report lays out the extent and likely outcomes of this work revolution.
“London workers overwhelmingly think we’re never going back to old ways of working, as large majorities say they’ve experienced positive impacts as a result of working from home, that it’s better for people’s quality of life, and that home-workers are no less hardworking, according to a major new study.
But the research, by King’s College London’s Policy Institute and Business School, finds that people’s love of WFH is not driven by a hatred of the office – most London employees still feel good about being in their regular workplace in the city; it’s the journey there that’s the issue, with avoiding commuting seen as the top benefit of WFH.
Among those who work in their London workplace at least once a week, three in five also say they would react negatively if their employer tried to force them to come in more regularly, while there is very little support for paying people less for WFH – even those who have to go into their workplace every day of the week are more likely to oppose than support this idea”.