Tuesday to Thursday is the New Office Working Week, Data Suggests
There is no doubt that the pandemic has changed the way we work, as some are branding Thursday as the new Friday. Tuesday to Thursday is the new office working week, data suggests.
Research which involves using mobile phone activity suggests that Tuesday to Thursday are the new typical office days.
Analysts Placemake.io and Visitor Insights examined anonymised phone data from over 500 UK high streets between 2019 to 2022. The study found that there has been a rise in activity amongst suburban, small towns and seaside towns, it was concluded that the increase had a correlation to the trend of many people working from home since the pandemic hit, according to the BBC.
Specifically, the data revealed that Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays were very busy in the City of London. However, Mondays saw only 50-60% of that level, while Fridays were nearly as quiet as weekends.
There were also decreases in other major cities, Birmingham city experienced a 30% decrease, and Manchester’s Northern Quarter saw a decrease of 27% during either end of the week.
Many small businesses in cities are experiencing a drop in sales on Mondays and Fridays “My regulars tell me it’s because they can choose to work flexibly now” an owner of a small coffee store near St Guy’s Hospital in London explained.
However, this indicates that there seems to be a shift back towards being in the office more frequently. Most people who took up home-working did so due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the preference for remote working was prominent for many people post-pandemic.
In the early stage of post-covid life, many workers were showing a preference for being fully remote, or hybrid working with only one day in the office. However, recent research seems to show that Mondays and Fridays are the prominent remote working days, with more people going into the office midweek.
We may not be going back to the way of working that was around pre-covid, but there seems to have certainly been a shift back towards office working.
Last summer, it was reported that UK office workers were only going into the office an average of 1.4 days a week, compared to 3.8 days a week pre-pandemic, research from consultancy Advanced Workplace Associates found.
However, if new research using mobile phone activity is showing that Tuesday to Thursday are the new office working days, then this suggests a shift back towards predominately office-based work.
For some, working remotely has caused feelings of loneliness. Perhaps this is why more people are keen to get back into the office more often.
Many have supported returning to office work, “it’s given me a proper start and finish to the working day, and I prefer to maintain that boundary”, Debbie Ryle, who works in a management role at a further education institute in London told The Guardian.
Working from the office is still favoured by many, particularly for new workers entering the workforce. It’s important to provide the opportunity to learn on the job which isn’t always possible when it’s only done via video call. Coming into the office and being able to collaborate with colleagues can be really beneficial for brainstorming and generating creative ideas.
Concerns regarding the effect of remote working on team building and workplace morale have also been raised, “there is less social interaction now and any team ethos is non-existent” an employee from a railway infrastructure company told The Guardian.
Maintaining a hybrid routine has its benefits as they’ve been shown to increase employee loyalty and reduce staff turnover. However, recent research suggests that a hybrid routine with an average of 3 days in the office, is potentially the way forward.
It is to be expected that we will continue to see a balance between home working and office working for the foreseeable future, with more people prioritising a work-life balance.