City of London Workers Still Haven’t Returned to Offices at Pre-Omicron Levels

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City of London workers are yet to return to the financial heartland in numbers seen before the spread of the omicron variant.

About 60% to 70% of City employees are back at their desks, according to data compiled by Google, which tracks the movements of some of its users. That’s less than the 75% commuting prior to the omicron wave taking hold in late 2021.

Hybrid Work Is Here to Stay for London Staff Who Don’t See Return to 5-Day Office Week

Businesses pushing for a return to the office continue to meet resistance from employees enjoying a better work-life balance as a result of not having to travel in every day. Almost 80% of London-based staff working remotely at least once a week say the experience has been good for them, according to a report published on Wednesday by the Policy Institute at King’s College London.

Inflation has soared to almost 10% in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising price of everything from train travel to lunches may be putting off commuters. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said earlier this month that the UK economy will slow next year, with only Russia performing worse among leading economies.

In the London boroughs of Camden and Islington, home to the King’s Cross neighborhood that’s popular with tech firms including Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc., about the same percentage of workers are back in the office as before omicron’s spread. The average is typically 55% to 65%, depending on day and location.

The number of employees in the office has varied in recent weeks due to school holidays and the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations.

Top photograph: Morning commuters cross London Bridge towards the City of London, UK, on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Photo credit: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg.