how many offices are open in 2020?
We surveyed a range of 500 people to find out if their office was open during the COVID-19 pandemic in September of 2020, 6 months post initial lockdown measures were introduced.
With recent easing of country-wide lockdown measures, many offices have been implementing #newways of working and helping staff to return to work safely. However, with new safety measures in place, for some this has been difficult to implement with restrictions on building capacity and free movement as well as public transport.
how many days per week is your office open?
- 28% of all nationwide office closures are based in London.
- 42% of offices are not open to their employees at all
- 32% of businesses open 4-5 days per week.
Our poll revealed that 42% of office doors remain closed to their teams. A quarter of organisations (26%) are open 1-3 days per week, with less than a third (32%) open 4-5 days. The poll was carried out between 26th August and 2nd September with over 500 responses.
We’ve been very much campaigning for the safe return of the workforce to their office environment. This means working in partnership with employers to communicate robust safety measures to welcome their people safely, and confidently, back to their desks. After months working from home and schools reopening, many employees now have a real appetite to return to a more traditional working environment and rhythm to the working week.
the impact of COVID-19 on London offices.
Geographically, London is hardest hit - with one in four offices closed. The tight living space and heavy dependence on public transport here, seem to be influencing a trend towards working from home and a fear of returning to large office spaces. Recent research has similarly shown a trend in the property market looking at rural and coastal locations away from big city living.
The construction, property and engineering sector breaks the mould from office living where our recent report identified that 80% of employers confirmed that their sites are now up-and-running, with a third of those (34%) operating at between 80% - 100% capacity. That sector is well versed in following tight safety protocols in the workplace and much of it operates outside too. The office environment presents a different playing field with a virus such as this, but with the right safety protocols in place, we can get the nation safely back to work and give the economy the autumnal kickstart it so needs.
how to get to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With offices opening across our business new methods of transport started to gain trend.
scooting to work.
Being able to travel in a suit to work can be difficult on a bike, on public transport, it becomes cramped even before contending with an airborne virus during a global pandemic. Many city workers have adopted the electric scooter as an easy way to travel in open air, standing with minimal effort and risk to an expensive suit and concerns of public transport safety.
commuting in areas of lockdown restrictions.
You may find yourself in a town that has recently been advised to 'lockdown' and restrict travel and gatherings in an area. In these situations, local advice should be followed and where possible avoid public transport.
Walking, cycling, segways, hoverboards - not quite back to the future but the 2014 version of self-balancing scooters are all viable alternatives to driving, and are already allowing many to feel safer commuting during the pandemic.
