Nearly three-quarters (73%) of London office workers would leave their current job if the opportunity to work from home was taken away, according to research by Bloomberg Intelligence.
The report was comprised of answers from 500 employees aged 18 to 65 working for businesses based in central London. It found that 57% worked two or three days a week from home, while the proportion of fully remote fell to 19% from 24% in June 2022. Seven in 10 (70%) stated hybrid working was a permanent offer from their employer, surging from 46% in June.
Of those who said they would leave their role if flexibility was denied, 64% said that an 11% or higher pay rise would make them change their minds, and 24% were after an 11% to 15% jump, matching inflation at 10.5%.
Only 1% feared either being laid off or receiving a lower pay increase if they refused to return to the office, and only 12% were worried about being laid off in a weak economy and would not change employers if asked to return to the office.
Sue Munden, senior industry analyst for real estate at Bloomberg Intelligence, said: “Working from home is still widely spread in the capital, with 95% allowed some sort of flexibility. We believe that flexible working will remain prevalent for the long term. While employers may be encouraging a return to the office, inflation has driven up the cost of transportation, which discourages 67% to do so.
“London employers may need to keep flexible work arrangements permanently in order to retain talent. Employees are looking for flexibility, with three-quarters either having changed employers or would do so in the next six months to secure hybrid or fully remote work arrangements.”