Office staff at major West Midland firms to start hybrid working

Bosses at 50 of the UK's biggest businesses were asked whether they will be demanding employees return to the office full-time but 43said they would embrace a hybrid model of two or three days working from home.

The research comes after several big-name organisations have already declared plans to downsize office space and no longer require staff to be at their desks full-time.

Walsall-based HomeServe is surrently taking stock and consulting its office staff, who have mainly work from home since the start of the pandemic last year.

"At HomeServe, we’re working through plans with our people, and spending as long as we need to make sure we offer as much flexibility as we can, which takes time. We are also ensuring everyone has the chance to contribute ideas and suggestions as part of this process.

“We won’t all be returning to the office as soon as restrictions are lifted, as we’re focused on taking it slowly, thinking about safety, and balancing the needs of our people and our business," the company, which has its head office in Cable Drive, said.

Amazon, which has a giant fulfilment centre at Rugeley, has however said that it still plans to have its office-based employees return to the office by the autumn.

"Our plan is to return to an office-centric culture as our baseline," Amazon said.

Water company Severn Trent, which has its headquarters in Coventry and serves customers across across the Midlands and Mid Wales, is planning to get more people back in the office from next month.

A spokesperson said: “Since the start of the pandemic, around 4,000 of our key workers have carried on as normal, with Covid precautions in place, in treatment works, offices and in our communities to ensure we continue to provide our essential services. The remainder have been working from home during the lockdowns.

"When restrictions have eased, we’ve supported those working from home to return to our Covid-secure offices and sites in a controlled and safe way. In June, subject to Government guidelines, we’ll look to have more people back in the office, as we aim to return to how things were before the pandemic.”

Government guidelines currently state that people who can work from home are still advised to do so.

Mark Read, chief executive of advertising firm WPP, said: "We're never going to go back to working the way we used to work.

"People are working from home three to four days a week so we probably need 20 per cent less space, but we're not going to do that if everyone's working from home on Mondays and Fridays."

The research also found 95 per cent of insurance giant Aviva's 16,000 UK workforce are working flexibly and recruiter Adecco now has fourth-fifths of its 34,000 staff working remotely.

Investment firm JP Morgan and recruiter Michael Page said workers have been allowed to return to offices from March 29, whilst Adecco, recruiter Hays Group and WPP reopened their offices on April 12.

In March, former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Charlie Bean said that he expects firms to adopt a permanent flexible model after the pandemic.

He said at the time: "Not everyone will be working a nine-to-five, five days a week and that, in effect, will change the way metropolises like London operate.

"We won't have rigid commuting times... we'll see an evolution of the city to reflect that."

Other corporate giants – including British Gas owner Centrica, NatWest Group and outsourcer Capita – have also all confirmed they will move their workforces to hybrid working.

HSBC is closing down its executive floor at its Canary Wharf head office, with chief executive Noel Quinn declaring that flexible working is likely to stay, and last week Barclays revealed it is carrying out a review into its own office space.

In the US, bosses have been more forthright in their attempts to get employees to return to offices, with Goldman Sachs telling staff they are expected at their desks.

And some business leaders insist that creativity is put at risk by remote working arrangements, although lower-paid workers have said they enjoy the savings from less commuting.