Sadiq Khan: Home-working risks London ‘hollowing out’
Sir Sadiq Khan has raised the alarm on working from home, saying London “cannot afford” to be a city where “the centre has been hollowed out”.
The London Mayor urged employers to consider the post-lockdown effect on commuters across the capital, as first reported by the BBC.
Khan added unease regarding the amount of young graduates entering their first jobs in the wake of the pandemic.
He told the event last week, hosted by consultancy firm Project Leaders, young people may struggle to form connections with colleagues or miss out on certain skills due to the lack of office work.
The Mayor called on London’s businesses to think “very carefully” before reducing office space and to consider the longer-term impact on staff.
Khan added London was not alone in the issue, with many cities around the world having failed to return to pre-pandemic commuting levels.
This follows a crackdown on flexible working arrangements across London with companies such as Amazon requiring a return to the office five days a week.
Many companies are introducing incentives to bring employees back into the office.
Rail fare revenue down from home-working
Just Eat for Business asked staff to be in the office three days a week in return for a free food allowance every month.
Flexible working has also had a direct effect on transportation, reducing Transport for London’s (TfL) revenue from a decrease in fares.
As of March 2024, the number of Tube journeys at peak morning hours on a Monday reached 70 per cent of what was seen on the equivalent Monday in March 2019.
Friday mornings took the biggest hit, with the comparative rate at 62 per cent, meanwhile Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays all stood at 79 per cent.
Khan told the Project Leaders event he and his City Hall team had lobbied the Department for Transport to consider “innovative” ways of improving rail travel for commuters in and around London.
‘A buzzing city centre is essential’
Muniya Barua, deputy chief executive at BusinessLDN, told CityAM: “A buzzing city centre is essential to London’s dynamism.
“Firms are taking varied approaches to flexible working according to their business needs.”
She added it was important that the capital was making effort to “entice” commuters back into the office.
“Greater innovation on fares as well as a multi-year funding deal for Transport for London to enable it to invest in the projects that the capital needs to grow will all help,” Barua added.