Nearly half of Brits are exclusively back in the office
Nearly half of Brits are now working exclusively in the office, as the work from home buzz seems to fade for many.
According to fresh data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the number of workers who split their time between home and the office increased to 24 per cent in May, up from 13 per cent in February when lockdown restrictions in Scotland and England were coming to an end.
The percentage of people working only from home fell from 22 per cent to 14 per cent over the same timeframe, as employers try to entice people back into offices, while nearly half (46 per cent) of those polled in May said they were exclusively travelling to their place of work.
Indeed, the flexibility of working from home has led to a huge spike in hybrid working, with more than eight in ten workers who had to work from home during the pandemic saying that they planned to hybrid work back in February 2022.
More than three-quarters of those who worked from home in some capacity said that being able to work from home gave them an improved work life balance.
Half reported it was quicker to complete work (52%) and that they had fewer distractions (53%). Almost half also reported improved well-being (47%).
The youngest and oldest workers were least likely to hybrid work, and was more common among higher earners.
More than a third (38%) of workers earning £40,000 or more hybrid worked between 27 April and 8 May 2022, meaning they both worked from home and travelled to work in the latest week.
Workers in this income group were the only ones for whom hybrid working was the most common working pattern. They were also more likely than other income groups to work from home exclusively. Lower earners were less likely to report hybrid working.