UK 'significantly behind' parts of Europe in returning to offices - analyst

CONTEXT Index has ranked which country’s workers have returned to the office or are still remaining at home

Nordics and Baltics employees are the least likely in Europe to have returned to the office after COVID-19 government lockdowns, according a new Return to Work Index from channel analyst Context.

The firm's global managing director, Adam Simon, said the was intrigued by a recent Morgan Stanley study, which named the UK as being significantly behind countries like France, Italy and Spain in bringing employees back to an office environment.

Context's study focuses on reviewing its monthly channel data related to toner sales, saying "no other IT-related product is so intrinsically linked to workplace presence".

"Our Return to Work Index shows the power of IT channel data in discerning wider societal and macroeconomic trends," Simon said.

"The UK may be lower down the table due to many factors, not least the government's preference for issuing advice rather than orders to businesses. But it's clearly data that they'll want to keep a close eye on, given the major economic implications."

The Return to Work Index plots each country's four-week rolling sales of toner through distribution, giving a starting index value of 100 at the beginning of the pandemic.

Countries that currently have a score of more than 70 have been categorised as "back in the workplace"; those between 55 to 70 as "returning to the workplace", and those less than 55 as "at home".

While, like the Morgan Stanley study, the UK and Ireland has scored significantly lower than many European markets with a score of 68, Norway, Denmark and the Baltics are all below the UK in the index with scores of 66, 61 and 59 respectively.

French workers are by far the most likely to have headed back to offices in their droves, scoring 97, perhaps heeding French President Macron's words as early as June, touting "the pleasure of being together, to fully resume work".

Germany's workforce comes in at number two in Europe, with an index score of 94.

Further south, the economies of Spain and Italy have also scored highly with 83 and 86.

Context has said it will continue to run its Return to Work Index every week, as seasonal and other factors such as summer holidays may lead to "continued flux over the coming months".