Office Push Puts Johnson on Collision Course With U.K. Workers

In this article

Sign up here for our daily coronavirus newsletter on what you need to know, and subscribe to our Covid-19 podcast for the latest news and analysis.

U.K. workers are proving reluctant to go back to their offices, and Andy Kromidias is taking a huge financial hit.

He reopened his 80-year-old barber shop in mid-July, but the location in the heart of the City of London financial district means only a fraction of his customer base has returned. He often goes whole days without cutting anyone’s hair.

“Some people are saying folk will start coming back when the schools go back next week,” Kromidias said at his business on St. Swithin’s Lane on Friday. “But then again some people are saying next year. I don’t think any of us really know when it’s going to get back to normal.”

Deserted streets have left Kromidias — along with stores, pubs and restaurants — struggling with collapsing revenue. Coffee chain Pret A Manger, which relies heavily on commuter traffic and workers looking to grab a quick lunch, this week announced almost 3,000 job cuts.

It’s a key reason Boris Johnson is planning a publicity campaign to get Britain back into the office. But his push to help the economy and revive urban centers is up against workers’ ongoing worries about the coronavirus.

In a recent YouGov poll, 47% of respondents said businesses shouldn’t be encouraging employees to return to the office, versus 31% in favor. That’s due to concern about the safety of public transport and offices, as well as local lockdowns, school closures and reductions on some rail routes.

Data from Google show mobility is still below pre-crisis levels, while Morgan Stanley estimates that just 35% of white-collar employees have returned to the workplace, far lower than in other European countries. In London, usage of trains, buses and city bikes was 51% below pre-coronavirus levels in the week to Aug. 23, according to data from Moovit App Global Ltd.

Back to School

The full reopening of English schools next week for the first time since March offers an opportunity for Johnson to push the back to work message. The prime minister’s approval ratings have suffered through a summer of accusations of government missteps in handling the pandemic.

On top of that, the U.K economy shrank 20% in the second quarter, more than twice the average across other developed countries.

@hendopolis

TELEGRAPH: ‘Go back to work or risk losing your job’ #TomorrowsPapersToday10:53 PM · Aug 27, 2020

325

796 people are Tweeting about this

But Keith Burge, managing director of research consultancy firm ERS Ltd., which employs 16 people at offices in Bristol and Newcastle Upon Tyne in England’s west and northeast, is dismissive of the some of the recent negative messages and newspaper headlines about working from home.

The Telegraph newspaper reported ministers are planning to warn workers they’ll be more vulnerable to restructuring if they continue to stay at home, as part of a carrot-and-stick approach to cajoling Britons back to the office.

‘Bullying’

“To suggest that somebody shielding themselves due to health conditions and can’t return to the office is therefore vulnerable to unemployment is close to bullying,” he said. “I am not going to be lectured to by a government which has mishandled the entire pandemic on how I should do my business.”

Read More:
Vanishing Jobs and Empty Offices Plague Britain’s Retailers U.K.’s Return to Work Risks Being Stumped by Childcare Closures U.K. INSIGHT: Tracking the Recovery – High Frequency Dashboard

The British Chambers of Commerce, which represents companies employing almost six million people, points to the disparity between big cities and smaller conurbations, where people are more able to commute by bike or car.

“In small cities, town and suburban areas, you’re seeing a fairly fast recovery,” said BCC Director General Adam Marshall. But in city centers, he said, there are concerns about public transport and businesses are struggling. “It’s a tale of two recoveries.”

Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, this week warned of “ghost towns” if workers don’t return to offices. But while companies and industry groups want to support office culture, a “hybrid” model that mixes office with home-working may be needed until staff have more confidence.

“We’re certainly not there yet,” she said in a Times Radio interview on Thursday. “Our offices are at risk of dying. And we would regret that very much if we allowed that to happen.”

— With assistance by Alex Morales, Neil Callanan, and Zoe Schneeweiss

Source: Read Full Article