Londoners work from home mainly to avoid the time and expense of traveling to the office, according to a study showing that most believe they are unlikely to return to the office within five days.
Reduced public transport and high ticket prices are a major deterrent for workers traveling to the office every day, while congestion and rising petrol and diesel prices, which peaked again this week, make car travel unattractive, the study found.
Only 10% of workers said they thought they would return to the office full-time, compared with 73% who told researchers at King’s College London that working from home at least one day a week would be a constant feature of modern life.
Old and young respondents gave the same positive response to work from home as those who voted for Labor and the Conservatives, although more Labor supporters than Tory supporters were for homework.
Tara Reich, a human resources management expert at King’s College’s business school, said: “The ability to work from home has given many workers in London a sense of control that they do not want to give up.
Among those who say they have had a positive impact from working from home, avoiding daily commuting is seen as the biggest advantage of 80%, followed by the ability to manage household and social responsibilities at 66% – as 71% of women cite this as a factor compared to 60% of men.
The report is expected to worry London Mayor Sadiq Khan and London’s transport executives, who need people to return to previous levels of travel next year, when the government plans to make the capital’s transport system self-financing.
Other cities, where workers are likely to take such a positive view of domestic work, are likely to see the results as a blow to the revitalization of central shopping districts and plans for tram, bus and train operators to restore more frequent services.
Many employers report that staff prefer to work in the office from Tuesday to Thursday and report resistance to a return to office levels before the pandemic.
Amanda Jones, a lecturer in organizational behavior at the business school, said: “Many more people already have experience working remotely, while organizations and individuals have invested heavily in equipment and training, and those forced to work remotely during the blockade. have developed remote work. -work strategies.
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“Therefore, many more people not only have the capacity to work remotely, but consider it a normal rather than an exceptional and potentially stigmatizing practice.
The only concern respondents found in the survey was about younger workers, about half of whom believe they will miss out on career opportunities and vital work experience.
A 2001 survey of employees found that 56% believed that senior management wanted employees to come to work more often, while only 16% said managers approved of working from home.
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