Many people face longer hours and constant surveillance. But more flexibility could bring long-term benefits
It was Omicron that did it. Up until early December, office workers in England seemed to be steadily returning to their desks. But once the new variant had arrived, a change that had been taking shape since the Covid crisis started suddenly felt irresistible. Back-to-the-office schedules were binned, more companies announced long-term plans for so-called hybrid employment split between homes and workplaces, and there it was: a quiet revolution, whose consequences will unfold over the next year and beyond.
Home and hybrid working has been embraced by a long list of tech companies that includes Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Spotify and dozens more. Something similar seems to be happening in the financial sector. In the UK, 18m sq ft of office space has been vacated since the start of the pandemic. In the past year, in such places as Derby, Southampton and the London borough of Brent around 20% of offices have been taken out of use, and there are projections that between now and 2027, one in 10 British offices will no longer be needed.
John Harris is a Guardian columnist
