Nearly 75% London Employees Willing To Quit Rather Than Give Up WFH And Return To Office: Survey

Nearly 75% of employees in London would rather quit their jobs than return to the office full-time, a survey has revealed, with many demanding inflation-busting pay hikes to give up their right to flexible working.

The research by Bloomberg Intelligence found that employees in the UK's capital are confident in their bargaining power amid a tight labour market and widespread working-from-home following the Covid pandemic.

Nearly 75% Of London Employees Willing To Quit

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In a survey of 500 office workers in the UK capital, 73% said they¡¯d seek alternative employment if told to work five days a week on-site. Whereas four in 10 of those workers would need a raise of at least 16% to reconsider their position.

Higher-paid staff were more likely to push for even bigger raises if told to give up home-working, while women said they¡¯d need stronger incentives than men.

¡°London employers may need to keep flexible-work arrangements permanently in order to retain talent," said the report by Bloomberg Intelligence¡¯s Susan Munden and Sirine Bouzid. They added that the capital¡¯s employment rate is nearly 76% while its wages rose 6.4% in the three months to November.

Despite an economic slump and forecasts of a shallow recession, joblessness is low across most of the UK with employers frequently complaining of a skills shortage.

The cost of commuting was cited by over-two thirds of the workers as a key reason for not travelling to the office. Rail fares will rise by as much as 5.9% in England next month.

Over 95% of respondents said that they are allowed to work from home at least some of the time, the survey said, as per Bloomberg report. Still, the proportion of staff working fully remotely for London¡¯s businesses fell to 19% from 24% in June.

Also Read: Millions Of UK Employees To Get The Right To Flexible Working Hours

London Has Highest Work-From-Home Numbers

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Almost two in every 10 workers across the UK have been working exclusively from home, with London registering the highest levels of home working in the country.

Some 16% of people worked from home exclusively and 28% reported both working from home and travelling to work between September and January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), as per a Yahoo Finance report.

The data also showed that workers in London are more likely to work flexibly than anywhere else in the country.

Four in 10 residents in the capital have a hybrid working pattern, both working from home and travelling to the office. The east of England saw the second highest levels of hybrid working at 30%.

Also Read: UK Billionaire Calls WFH Employees 'Lazy Gits'

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