As the UK successfully takes step one of the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown, news headlines are increasingly reporting the steady return to central offices. Of note, however, is the intention of many businesses to offer employees a flexible approach to where they work.

Google is setting out its worldwide intentions, starting in the US. The tech giant has recently changed its work-from-home policy in a bid to attract more people back to the office. Although Google’s current WFH edict runs until 1st September 2021, workers can return to their desk voluntarily from this May. And in the near future, it will only allow employees to work from home for more than 14 days a year if they apply for it, rather than the assumption that WFH is a de facto right.

Here in the UK, it is PwC leading the charge, with an announcement that it will allow staff to split their time between home and office working. The revised expectation will be for staff to spend 40%-60% of their time with colleagues or clients in a physical capacity.

We have seen headlines that claim people are tired of working from home and the Chancellor added his weight to the pro-office argument in March, warning business owners that employees may quit if they don’t reopen offices. Mr Sunak’s comment that ‘working from home was no substitute for a physical workspace’ does pose a question: what will employees expect when they return to their workplace?

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