Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Should I stay or should I go?
If your employer asks that you return to work next week or next month, “should I stay at home or should I go in?” is probably the first question which will come to mind.
This is hardly surprising given the Government’s conflicting advice on the subject. A huge 27 million people tuned into Boris Johnson’s address and judging by what our candidates are telling us, they were left with more questions than answers.
Are we being “actively encouraged to go to work” or is it “if anybody can work from home, they should”? Should we “stay at home” or “stay alert”?
The message from our candidates is without question (and this will come as no surprise!) that “we want to work and can’t wait to get back to work”. This is tempered by the fears surrounding the options of how to get to work.
As of today, the government has succeeded in persuading us to stay at home, but is yet to persuade us to return to work. Monday was proof of this, despite the tube running more services we saw photographs of empty platforms and in some cases there were more security guards than passengers. Despite there being 18% more tube journeys than a week ago, the tube was still only operating at 8% of its usual capacity. The message from the numbers is clear – office workers in London do not yet have the confidence to get to work and most certainly are not travelling on the tube.
At this stage, it would seem that a combination of walking and perhaps use of the bus network is being seen as the best way to get to work. The challenge for office support staff is that the distance they usually live from their office is too far to walk and not amply covered by the bus network. People were wary of cycling in London before COVID-19 and that has not changed.
The good news is that pockets of work are beginning to become available again – much of this can be done from home, but some of it must be completed in the office. For a while at least it seems that most Londoners will err on the side of caution by staying at home, while there will be those (and this number will increase as time goes by) who will find a way to get to work whilst they “stay alert”.
Australasian Recruitment Company has a 17 year track record of helping London’s premier employers secure 1000+ employees on an annual basis. We are open for business and here when you need us. Call the Team on 020 7625 3300 or view our latest jobs here.
Take care, stay safe and keep positive!
Australasian Recruitment Company