Another Covid side-effect: Ten million people in Britain were working from home at the start of the year, figures show
- Home-working more than doubled across the UK after the Covid pandemic hit
- Millions mainly based in the office still spent one day a week in makeshift studies
- Men, the over-60s and professionals were the most likely to be based at home
- It comes after the Mail revealed most Whitehall offices are still one third empty
Almost ten million people were working from home at the start of this year, official figures show.
Home-working more than doubled across the UK after the pandemic struck, the Office for National Statistics found. Millions more who were mainly based in the office still spent at least one day a week working from their kitchen tables or makeshift studies.
Men, the over-60s and professionals were most likely to be based at home, while tradesmen, carers and those working in leisure were least likely.
It comes after the Daily Mail revealed most Whitehall offices are still more than a third empty, despite ministers urging civil servants to get back to their desks. Analysis of the Labour Force Survey found that just before the Covid outbreak, between October and December 2019, there were 4.7 million people across the UK working at home.
But by January to March this year, even after the Government order to work from home was lifted, the figure had more than doubled to reach 9.9 million. This accounts for almost a third (31 per cent) of the British workforce, the ONS said.
It also found that ‘half of those who worked from home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic reported spending less as a result’.
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