Letters: Heigh ho, off to work we go
[Re: Central London continues to feel hit of plan B measures, January 11]
We’ve seen footfall in Central London dropping again as plan B measures keep many office workers at home. In December, office occupancy reached 10 per cent, a new low for London. This can’t go on. We must return to the office en masse, as soon as possible, if the capital is to retain its status as a global hub of business and innovation.
Hybrid working – which for many people simply means home working – has not delivered on early-pandemic promises that it would optimise efficiency and workers’ well being. For a start, productivity has taken a huge hit during the reign of remote working; while we work longer hours, great swathes of this time are spent on calls trying to compensate for lost social interaction.
The blurring of the workspace and the home and a lack of social connection are clearly not conducive to support the well being of the workforce. More than half of respondents in a recent OSiT survey reported suffering from mental health issues such as stress, anxiety and loneliness while working remotely.
Giles Fuchs