Back to the office? Not quite.

A Gazette straw poll of the top-30 law firms revealed that the vast majority will continue to allow staff to work flexibly at least two days a week. Hybrid working is the new default and a return to the status quo ante appears inconceivable.

I was interested in the take of a City recruitment consultant collared by a Guardian reporter on Monday: ‘We have people [in professional services] saying I want two days a week at home now or I’m not moving.’

That sentiment is widespread – though not ubiquitous. Younger professionals are naturally keener on the opportunities that office working provides for learning and mentoring, as well as on less elevated modes of social interaction such as going down the pub.

So what next? The global embrace of remote working has led to an upsurge in interest in the long-heralded four-day week. Navigating Covid has given employers the confidence to embrace flexible working for professionals. It would now seem to be irrefutably established that we can be trusted to get on with the job and not slump on the sofa binge-watching Cash In The Attic.

For workers, an extra day off offers greater autonomy and improved wellbeing. For employers, businesses which have moved to a four-day working week report that staff are just as productive and focused. Sick leave falls, too (fewer duvet days, perhaps).

Of course, billing targets, lingering presenteeism and an obsolescent charging model constitute a significant barrier to overcome in the law. But this is not insuperable. A four-day week generally means all staff get a set day off with no cut in pay. Yet there is scope to introduce hybrids of the hybrid, if I can put it that way. Other strategies include condensing a 40-hour week into four 10-hour days, or a four-day week implemented bi-weekly.

None of this is inevitable. Just 7% of bosses have launched a four-day week or have decided to do so, according to a recent survey. But interest is growing rapidly. A white-hot seller’s market for professional labour will surely see the practice mushroom.

 

 

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