Town centres will never be the same again – over a quarter of businesses will change working patterns post-pandemic

More than a quarter (26%) of UK businesses will either close, downsize or consolidate their offices in the coming months, as companies move to hybrid working models. More than half (53%) of businesses plan to offer more flexible or remote working policies, while 30 per cent are expecting employees in the office between one and three days per week, research by YouGov for HR tech firm Applaud found.

 Hybrid working

Sridhar Iyengar, MD, Zoho Europe, comments “As expected, many businesses are starting to cut back and downsize on office spaces, and these figures highlight the volume of organisations that are following suit when deciding on business operations post pandemic. The  hybrid working format which sees workers operate from a part-home, part-office environment, is clearly becoming the model of choice for a majority of businesses.

“This ‘hybrid’ model will appease cost-concerned employers whilst maintaining benefits such as flexibility and wellbeing improvements, all the while injecting a social element back into workspaces.

“As these businesses take this route, it is crucial that decision makers equip IT teams with better long-term solutions to surging demand for their services. This includes adopting a scalable suite of SaaS and mobile applications, which are designed to enable and streamline head-to-toe hybrid working. The right tools, coupled with the right leadership approach and the right communication, should lead to happy and engaged employees, whether in the office or working remotely.”