Boris Johnson wants Britons to return to workplace

LONDON • British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will launch a public campaign next week to get Britain back to the workplace, as ministers warned that working from home will make people more vulnerable to being sacked, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

The campaign will extol the virtues of returning to the office and provide reassurance that it is a safe place, while a new online tool will help people avoid the most crowded trains and buses, the report on Thursday said.

"There will be three main messages - showing people the workplace is a safe place to return to; highlighting the social benefits and the emotional case for going back to the office; and encouraging people to plan how they are going to go back so they feel confident about doing so," it added, quoting a government source.

The report said Finance Minister Rishi Sunak is worried about further job losses, as well as the financial cost of running near-empty trains and buses.

"Clearly, people should be going back to work because it is safe to do so. There are already problems with workers' mental health. It's not just about hard-nosed economics," the report said, citing a Cabinet minister.

"There will be some economic consequences of shutdown. Companies will realise some people weren't working as hard as they thought… There is going to be a review of how productive people are."

According to British think-tank Centre for Cities, only 17 per cent of workers in British cities had returned to their workplaces by early this month.

Mr Johnson last month encouraged people working from home to get back to their workplaces to help the economy recover from its 20 per cent contraction in the April-June period.

REUTERS