Londoners spending more time in the office, but not as much as people in other global cities

Central London is showing steady progress in the return to a traditional working day, with workers spending more time in the office compared to last year, according to a new survey. The data, collected by Centre for Cities in collaboration with Savanta and Focaldata, claims that the average full-time worker in Central London spent 2.7 days per week in the office in June 2024. This marks an increase from the 2.2 days recorded in April 2023.

Despite this shift, London still trails behind other major global cities in terms of physical workplace attendance. Workers in Paris, for instance, spend an average of 3.5 days per week in the city, while employees in Singapore, New York, and Sydney average 3.2, 3.1, and 2.8 days respectively. The findings are part of a report titled “Return to the office: How London compares to other global cities, and why this matters,” which surveyed employers and employees in six cities across four continents.

One of the report’s claims is that London employers are generally mandating fewer days in offices compared to their global counterparts. The average London employer with a mandate requires employees to be in the office 3.1 days a week. This is less than in Sydney, where the average mandate is four days, and also behind Singapore (3.6 days), New York (3.4 days), Toronto (3.3 days), and Paris (3.2 days).

However, London businesses are increasingly pushing for more in-person work. The survey suggests that only seven percent of London’s desk-based workers were not mandated to be in the office at all by June 2024, a significant drop from 25 percent in April 2023. This trend suggests that more companies are recognizing the value of physical presence and are adjusting their policies accordingly.

The report also claims that employees might be more open to spending additional time in the office than expected. A substantial 95 percent of respondents in London, consistent with the average across all surveyed cities, acknowledged the benefits of more face-to-face interaction with colleagues. Furthermore, only 9 percent of London workers indicated they would consider changing jobs if their attendance requirement increased.

Notably, the youngest workers in London, those aged 18-24, are leading the change in levels of  attendance. This group spends more time in offices each week than any other age group and bucks the trend observed in other cities. Additionally, 43 percent of these younger workers believe they perform best when working from the office, the highest percentage across all age groups surveyed.