How many days a week is the FTSE 100 spending in the office?
In an exclusive poll for Morning Wire, Joanna Hodgson surveys major firms to see if hybrid working is still king in the UK
A three-day office week is dominant among some of Britain’s biggest companies, with employers spanning insurance, financial services and property continuing to embrace flexible working in 2025, findings from an exclusive Morning Wire survey suggest.
Ahead of the fifth anniversary in March of the start of the pandemic-induced ‘work from home’ experiment, a raft of FTSE 100 firms today look far from returning to the once traditional Monday to Friday model.
Of 34 FTSE 100 constituents that provided detailed responses, over a third typically see staff (in office roles) coming into their UK offices three days per week.
Schedules continue to vary depending on the requirements of specific roles.
The research comes as the ‘back to office’ debate continues with some large employers starting to clamp down on remote working.
Morning Wire asked how many days per week staff are expected/guided to work in UK offices, on average, as of January 2025.
The questions were less applicable to some members of London’s blue chip index, given the overseas focus of many of the listed members, but those that engaged provide a snapshot of how the working week looks across different sectors.
Aviva, Experian, GSK, Kingfisher and Vodafone continue to see two to three days attendance per week for office roles. Anglo American asks for a minimum of two days, while Lloyds guides two days a week for hybrid roles.
Aviva, Experian, GSK, Kingfisher and Vodafone continue to see two to three days attendance per week for office roles
At Rightmove, chief executive Johan Svanstrom said the property website’s hybrid working model of at least two office-based days “is working effectively for our teams”.
“It allows for life flexibility as well as the advantages of in-person work and collaboration. We believe in freedom and accountability combined, and encourage a good social agenda on office days,” Svanstrom added.
Just one firm, warehouse investor LondonMetric Property, said five days in the office is average, the same as pre-pandemic. Boss Andrew Jones said: “We are passionate that collaboration and time together make us more creative and effective. We are a small group of only 46 people and our people are energised by their colleagues to help them learn and achieve.”
British Land and Sage require at least three days, the latter unless a role is specified as remote. Other firms opting for a three-day in-office presence include AstraZeneca, Auto Trader, BP, HSBC UK, London Stock Exchange Group, Marks & Spencer, Rolls-Royce, Segro, Smiths Group, Tesco, Taylor Wimpey (noting that site visits and external meetings may also be included in this), Unite and WPP.
However, as Morning Wire revealed, WPP’s expectation from April is for people to be in the office four days a week. The advertising giant has faced a backlash with a petition demanding it revokes the policy, although signatories aren’t necessarily restricted to WPP employees.
Away from the FTSE 100, Amazon now wants staff in five days per week, and JP Morgan is asking most employees currently on a hybrid schedule to return five days a week, starting in March.
Many bosses have long pointed to the benefits of collaboration and learning in-person from colleagues.
Elsewhere in the Morning Wire survey, Rio Tinto revealed a flexible working policy but typically finds that staff spend between three and four days in the company workspace per week, and for those in hybrid roles at Standard Chartered two to three days in the office is most common.
The hybrid half
Half of the respondents said they have flexible or hybrid working offered in some form in the UK. Those include eight that did not specify how many days staff typically come in: Admiral, Compass, Haleon, Hargreaves Lansdown, Landsec, Legal & General, Phoenix Group and Schroders.
There are signs of building occupancy edging up at some headquarters. Remit Consulting analyses data from access control systems in large office properties across major UK cities to track the volume of employees entering. It said the national monthly average occupancy rate was 35.5 per cent in November 2024, up from 33.8 per cent a year earlier. Pre-Covid the national figure is estimated to have been around 60 per cent.
The November West End average figure was 48.1 per cent, and Manchester, Leeds, and Edinburgh recorded averages of around 40–42 per cent.
In the capital, tenants “are prioritising high-quality office space, with pre-letting activity thriving and a real shortage of best-in-class options”, according to James Walker, head of London office leasing, principal London markets at property agent Avison Young.
Walker added: “We recently looked at City tower buildings, built in the last decade, and the landlord vacancy rate is less than one per cent – a strong sign of demand.”