Since the epidemic was relaxed, home-based work has become more popular in Britain than in continental Europe and North America, and travel has dropped by more than a fifth.
Statistics from Google’s mobility report show that workplace travel last Thursday was 22 percent lower, the busiest day of the week for commuting, compared to pre-epidemic levels. This was the case in the United States and Canada, where travel was 20 percent lower, but in countries like Spain and France, 9 percent lower; Germany and Japan, 7 percent; And Italy, 6 percent.
Experts suggest that the high proportion of British workers in the service industry, the high cost of travel, and the relative ease of changing jobs for employers who are more tolerant of hybrid work stimulated the motivation to do homework.
The embrace of housework denies the opposition of individuals like government skills minister Jacob Rees-Mug, who has left letters on the desks of civil servants urging them to return to their offices. An official spokesman for the prime minister said yesterday that “we want to encourage more people to return to office.”
Nick Bloom, a professor of economics at Stanford University in California, said that before the epidemic in Britain and other developed economies, about 5 per cent of full-time work was done from home. “The biggest reason for the UK to work from home is the mix of industries,” he said, adding that the UK has focused on business services.
Anthony Painter, director of policy at the Chartered Institute of Management, said 89 percent of managers were in favor of hybrid work: “
Frispace, which monitors office use in professional service firms, found that 83 percent of offices reopened but only 29 percent of desks were occupied.
Bupa reports that 61 percent of those who work from home feel that their health has deteriorated. It found that 19 percent exercised less, but did not explore whether the remaining 81 percent exercised more or similar.
