A new survey shows that UK workers are going into the office on average just 1.5 days a week – a figure which may have a bearing on how tenants who work may now use their rented properties. 

The consultancy Advanced Workplace Associates surveyed 43 offices in the UK, representing nearly 50,000 people, in June and July.

The results show average attendance at the workplace was only 29 per cent with a peak of 39 per cent mid-week but only 13 per cent on Fridays. On average some two-thirds of desks in offices are now unused daily.

The result of the research – covering sectors including banking, energy, engineering, healthcare, insurance and IT – contrasts markedly with similar pre-Covid studies which show workers were going into the office an average of 3.8 days a week

Advanced Workplace Associates – which advises companies including NatWest and Network Rail – found this revolutionary change was broadly in line with 12 other countries which it looked at. North America and Latin America had the lowest average attendance.

In the UK banking had the highest average attendance of the sectors surveyed and tech had the lowest.

The survey suggested that new ways of working were now here to stay. It added that organisations with hybrid working policies – where they specify employees should be in the office for a certain number of days – had higher attendance than those that did not. However, even in those cases employees still appeared to be going into the office less than the policy requested.

The UK government first asked people to work from home if they could in March 2020; since that time guidance has varied across the UK nations.