Last week’s relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions in England led to a slight increase in the number of workers going into offices, according to research.
Data collected last week by smart buildings software platform Metrikus showed that offices were on average 60% occupied across the country, a three percentage point increase on the previous week.
That included highs of 68% occupancy across Tuesday and Wednesday, dropping to just 42% occupation on Friday, with the data following a regular pattern established over the year of midweek days being busier.
The figures, which are based on sample offices across cities in the UK, mark a continuation of steady growth in office use since February, but not the flood of people returning to work that some might have predicted.
Michael Grant, Metrikus’ chief operating officer, said that although the first week back in the office was “very much business as usual”, the fact that the increase was only modest could be a positive sign in the long term.
“Every week we watch our index rise between 1.5 and two points, with very little variation. This should reassure us that the return to offices will be sustainable and lasting – demand hasn’t fluctuated wildly in response to external events.”
Grant suggested that hot weather, individual instructions to isolate and the school holidays could be affecting occupancy levels.
“It is hard to measure the impact of the “pingdemic” [people being told to isolate by the NHS Test and Trace app] without more detailed data on the pings, but it hasn’t suppressed the established pattern of growth.
“Schools break for the summer holidays this week and although we observed a small drop-off in office use during the last half-term break, perhaps not as many parents as we were expecting took time to work from home to balance the needs of their professional and personal lives.”
However, the way people behaved in the hot weather may provide valuable lessons for office landlords, he continued, with last week’s heatwave “driving people to their air-conditioned offices for a more comfortable working environment”.
“This really demonstrates that offices will thrive when they offer employees facilities that they can’t get at home,” he said.
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