More than 1,000 people so far have voted in a Law Society poll on how firms should respond to quieter office days.
Chancery Lane said the LinkedIn poll was inspired by a Gazette article on London firm Kingsley Napley's decision to close two-and-a-half of its six floors on Fridays.
A rise in hybrid working ‘has left some offices looking like a “ghost town” on non-mandatory office days’, the Society told its 244,432 followers. The poll asks how firms should respond to quieter office days: leave the office open; restrict the office space; close the doors; or something else?
Suggestions in the comments section include using the space for community purposes or a day care area for working parents.
A law firm managing director said: ‘There should always be an open door for employees to give them the opportunity to collaborate and learn from each other in the office. That can’t be achieved in a better way than in person in my view.’
However, a legal finance professional said: ‘Hybrid working helps the firm with energy costs and carbon targets. If floor space is empty it should be sublet or reduced to save costs.’
An office manager suggested staff should be encouraged back to the office full time. ‘Sadly I doubt that’s ever going to happen again,’ replied a law firm administrator.
A US-based respondent said: ‘I honestly think it’s an opportunity to reinvest a lot of the overhead with bricks and mortar back into your staff. That said, I’ve seen a surprising number of people who hate working from home because it eliminates the separation between work life and home life.
‘In Seattle, we’ve seen a rise in rentable office space for individual workers, and I really like the idea of creating some kind of allowance for something like that. Plan for an office space that houses only your critical on-site personnel, and then use the savings from downsizing to fund pay rises and a fund for people who can work from home but want to rent an office space for productivity.’
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