Jon Dweck, Founder and CEO of Space Three Two, the UK’s first dedicated office time-sharing marketplace, comments the continuing rise in COVID-19 cases and potential for the Government to encourage employees to work from home again: 

“With the rise of coronavirus cases soaring across the UK, and the government's confusing messaging around working from home, employers and business leaders are left scratching their heads: How can they best balance the needs of their business with the duty of care to their employees, especially as cases rise again when the government position is so unclear? 

“Businesses themselves also risk losing control of how they want to run their organisations unless they get on the front foot with understanding these new restrictions – a challenging feat when further clarity is so desperately needed.

"Perhaps the government should be using their tory party conference to speak directly to business leaders, offer further guidance, and gain their support again.

"Considering the six-month timescale on these new restrictions, it would help if businesses understood the tangible outcomes that the government was seeking to achieve by the restrictions. Is it a reduction of commuters? A reduction in staff contact? If so, they could set tangible targets for office-based businesses to achieve, for example, no more than 20% of office capacity reached on any given day or staff across a business must average no more than 2 days in the office each week.

“With so many varied roles in a single office, each made up of different tasks, we should be looking at this in a different way. If government enabled employers to define certain activities that are allowed to take place in the office, such as team planning, training and creative sessions, it would help give employers the clarity they need to move forward safely. We must also remember the mental wellbeing of staff needs to be considered. After nearly six months of working from home, we’re at a crossroads of giving people greater flexibility with work – a longed-for trend further highlighted during lockdown – alongside the social interaction we crave as humans, but conducted in a safe way. 

“We know the average London business can save around £30,000 per year for every 10-office based employees if flexibility with office space was an option. Space Three Two is an office time-sharing marketplace that allows two businesses to share one office on different days. We are all about a new, long-term hybrid way of working between work and home. We recognise there is an optimum blend of activities for each business, some that can be done alone at home and others which are better suited to an in-person group setting. This is why we believe the future of work requires office space available on a part-time basis, to be safely shared with other businesses. In this way, businesses can allow their employees to work from home where possible and safely in an office environment when required.

“We believe businesses who choose greater flexibility will see a range of important benefits including enhanced culture and productivity, substantial savings from reduced rents, as well as reducing the environmental impact of excess travel and commuting.”