Empty offices due to hybrid work cost 9 in 10 businesses in London around £190,000 per year

The poor use of physical office space – as a result of the increased uptake of hybrid working – costs 88 per cent of all London businesses around £190,000 on average per year.

London businesses whose employees work in the office two to three days per week are taking a big financial hit by leaving their offices empty, according to a survey by office provider Space32, as working from home has become the norm since the Covid pandemic.

Average days in the office have declined to 2.5 from 4.5 before the pandemic with millions of office spaces in London being empty every week. 54 per cent of business leaders seek to provide a part-time hybrid office for the foreseeable future.

“The post-pandemic work from home policy has left millions of desks throughout London empty during the week and this underutilised space is not being viewed in the correct way by business leaders,” said Space32 CEO Jon Dweck, CEO and founder of Space32.

“Businesses throughout the capital are missing out on hundreds of thousands of pounds in this new era of flexible working and businesses are failing to see this as an opportunity to impact their bottom line.”

The research found that the average number of people working in an office in London was 41, with these workers wanting 40 per cent less time in the office than before Covid hit.

Space32 recommended businesses pass on this lost amount to workers by giving them pay rise to support them during the raging cost of living crisis in the UK.