The shift to working from home risks undermining London’s position as an economic powerhouse, the Centre for Cities has warned.
“Policymakers should be wary that we don’t passively let a public health emergency turn into a longer-term negative impact on the economy,” said chief executive Andrew Carter.
Its report, Office Politics: London and the Rise of Home Working, was released yesterday and pointed out that office attendance in the capital was 59% that of pre-pandemic levels. Staff, it added, were spending an average of just 2.3 days a week in the office.
“The big risk here is that hybrid working sees a further deterioration in productivity growth off the back of a poor performance over the previous decade-and-a-half, at a time when the London economy needs to move in the opposite direction,” the report said.
It added that office attendance might enter a downward spiral if companies gave up office leases on larger buildings and falling ticket sales then led to a reduction in transport services.
It also warned against offices being repurposed as residential, which could lead to a permanent reduction in available workspace. This would “limit the ability of the central London economy to grow in the future”, it said.
