The debate over which is “better” between remote, hybrid or full-time return to working from office seems endless. It appears that most companies are against full-time working from home. Almost 90 per cent of workers in the UK are subject to compulsory office attendance policies as employers demand they come back to their desks more days each week, new figures show.
The proportion of companies requiring staff to be in the office for three days a week rose from 67 per cent in the final quarter of 2023 to 75 per cent in the same period in 2024. Mandates for attendance four times a week rose from 46 per cent to 50 per cent.
The major companies calling staff back to the office include the banks JP Morgan Chase, and Barclays, the advertising group WPP and the tech group Amazon. The most commonly mandated office days were Mondays at 65 per cent and Wednesdays at 67 per cent. Forty-eight per cent were required to attend on Fridays.
Remote working became common place during the pandemic. Respondents who preferred working in the office cited being more productive (36 per cent), clearer work-life boundaries (32 per cent) and a structured routine (31 per cent). A fifth pointed to the free heating and 5 per cent said they were taking free showers at work, rising to 13 per cent for 18-to-24-year-olds.
Those who preferred working at home cited flexibility (55 per cent), saving money (55 per cent) and the ability to focus away from colleagues (35 per cent). From this month (April), WPP will require most staff to return to the office for a minimum of four days a week. Amazon required employees to return to the office five days a week.
Head of AI and data at Virgin Media 02 Business, Monica Mercado, said: “Despite implementing these measures, the number of Brits commuting to major towns decreased by 7 per cent in 2024 compared to 2023, indicating companies are still embracing hybrid working options.
JP Morgan is running out of desk space at its London headquarters as it pushes its 22,000 UK staff to return to the office five days a week. The investment bank currently lacks the space in its Canary Wharf office to accommodate all staff, despite a company-wide order to end home working.
JP Morgan has seven UK offices, including its London HQ, technology hubs in Glasgow and Bournemouth and regional offices in Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds and Bristol. It employs 14,000 people in Canary Wharf and in the financial district of London. However, only three fifths of JP Morgan’s offices across its Europe, the Middle-East and Africa division currently have enough desk space to accommodate all of its staff full-time.
The American banking giant’s Glasgow office, which opened a year ago, is set to be one of the first JP Morgan’s offices in the UK to host a five-day return. However, the move has triggered a backlash from the investment bank’s staff, who have complained the policy has created “unnecessary friction” in the workplace.
More than 1,000 staff have now signed an online petition, started by a group called JPMC Workers, that calls on JP Morgan to expand its hybrid working policy while warning about “increasing toxicity” inside the company. But the bank’s CEO Jamie Dimon, hit back at the complaints, suggesting that employees are free to leave if they disagree with the policy, according to Reuters.
In contrast, the British boss of Citigroup has backed hybrid working at the bank in a departure from a push elsewhere by other American banks. Jane Fraser, 57, who has run Citi for almost four years, views hybrid working as helpful for recruitment. She told top executives that she is sticking with the lender’s flexible policy that allows most staff to work remotely up to two days a week.
The writer is our foreign correspondent based in the UK
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