Cities will change for ever with home working, says ex-Bank of England deputy governor

Sir Charlie Bean has said metropolises ‘may become more focused on entertainment’, Zoe Tidman reports

Sir Charlie Bean has predicted that changed working habits will lead to an ‘evolution’ in cities (Getty)

The shift towards home working will last beyond the coronavirus pandemic and will change the shape of cities, according to the former deputy governor of the Bank of England.

Sir Charlie Bean has predicted that firms will adopt a permanent flexible model of working following the experiences of the past year, which saw many employees doing their jobs from home.

Many firms are already looking towards a hybrid model of working – where employees split their time between home and the office – once the crisis is over.

Sir Charlie has become the latest prominent figure to suggest that the traditional, office-based working week may have come to an end.

Earlier this month, Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, said he did not think there would be a return to previous routines, and predicted a hybrid way of working for many people in the future.

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Sir Charlie – now a committee member at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and a London School of Economics professor – said the legacy of more varied working patterns would likely redefine what cities look like.

“Not everyone will be working nine to five, five days a week – and that, in effect, will change the way metropolises like London operate,” he said. “We won’t have rigid commuting times.”

He added: “We’ll see an evolution of the city to reflect that.”

As well as fewer people using transport, more home working could see demand plunge for retailers and places selling coffee and food near offices.

“These changes over time will change the nature of metropolises – they may become more focused on entertainment and less on places of work,” Sir Charlie said.

The Bank of England’s former deputy governor predicted that most firms will take a hybrid approach to working in the long term, rather than sticking with a full remote working model once restrictions lift.

Many companies are looking to a hybrid model of working once the crisis is over, including British Airways and outsourcing giant Capita.

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Earlier this week, the UK’s largest building society Nationwide unveiled plans to allow thousands of employees to choose where to work from once the current restrictions end.

Newspaper publisher Reach, which owns the Daily Mirror, said it will shut a central London office, with most staff to continue working from home beyond lockdown restrictions.

Banking giant Santander has also unveiled a groundbreaking deal that will allow around 5,000 staff impacted by its latest round of branch closures to stay on by combining working from home with access to local collaboration spaces.

Other corporate giants – including British Gas owner Centrica and NatWest Group – have also confirmed they will move their workforces to hybrid working.

And HSBC’s chief executive said the bank’s decision to cut its office space by almost half will lead to a “very different style of working post-Covid”.

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Mr Bailey, the Bank of England governor, has predicted that most office workers will stop commuting five days a week after the pandemic.

“I think we will see things change, because I think some habits and some practices will prove to be sustainable,” he said this month. “I think there will be for many people more of a hybrid model of working at home and working in a place of work.”

He added: “I would be very surprised if we went back to exactly as we were before Covid.”

Amid predictions of greater flexibility in the future, Rishi Sunak warned British companies earlier this week that staff could quit their jobs if they are not allowed back into offices once lockdown ends.

The UK chancellor said the “spontaneity” and “team building” that comes from being in the office is unparalleled, and that young people benefit from the proximity of working with more experienced colleagues.

However, a recent poll by Deloitte suggested people would prefer to go into the office for just two days a week, if they were able to keep working from home in the future.

Back in November, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) found the majority of businesses polled predicted most of their UK staff would split their time between the office and home beyond 2021.

Additional reporting by Press Association