UK employees work in the office just 1.5 days a week

Employees in the UK work just 1.5 days a week in the office, a new study has found. According to the Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA) Hybrid Working Index study, average office attendance stands at just 26 per cent. Globally, employees spend an average of 1.4 days per week in the office, with the UK figures slightly higher.

The study, which considered the working patterns of nearly 80,000 employees across 13 countries, found that organisations that insisted their staff attended the office for three days a week still recorded an average attendance of just 2.1 days.

Andrew Mawson, AWA managing director said: “What this global survey shows is that as a result of changes due to the pandemic the hybrid working genie is out of the bottle. Even where employers try to force staff into the office two or three days a week, employees don’t comply."

“Organisations need to look at the data showing that two-thirds of desks are unused and work with their employees to find smarter, more efficient ways of working that will fit in with how people want to live their lives, save money and be more environmentally friendly. We believe this will have a profound impact on the property market, which is not currently being recognised by the industry.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, employees spent on average nearly four days a week in the office, however, many employees now expect the option to work remotely for at least part of the week.

The study also found that no more than a third of employees visited the office during mid-week peaks and, in the UK, only 19 per cent of employees attend the office on Mondays and 13 per cent on Fridays, leaving the workplace largely empty and desks unused.

Camilla Beamish, legal director in the employment team at law firm Cripps, said that if employees are not attending the office as much as their employer’s hybrid working policy mandates, the organisation should seek to understand why.

Beamish commented: “Employers can either adopt a carrot or a stick approach to mandating employees’ attendance in the office. Encouraging employees’ attendance in the office by creating a welcoming office environment and organising social and charity events may work for some employees. For others, it will be important that managers are leading by example and regularly attending the office themselves.”