Rishi Sunak: Workers will quit if they can’t return to offices, chancellor warns
Employers may face an exodus of staff if they implement a permanent remote-working strategy after lockdown, the chancellor warned.
Rishi Sunak said workers should be allowed to return to offices or they may “vote with their feet” and leave the firm for an employer that encourages face-to-face working.
He said offices allow meetings to “happen by chance” and create an environment where people are able to “riff off eachother”.
“You can’t beat the spontaneity, the team building, the culture that you create in a firm or an organisation from people actually spending physical time together,” Sunak told the Telegraph.
He told the newspaper that the office environment is particularly important for younger workers, as it gives them the opportunity to get to know colleagues and find mentors.
However, he said hybrid models of working – which allow staff to split time between home and the office – could be suitable for some firms and their employees.
The chancellor also called on firms that have benefited from the Covid crisis to launch an investment spree and recruitment drive to aid the country’s economic recovery.