Most bosses 'secretly' want staff back in the office, says CBI head

Most bosses ‘secretly’ want all of their staff back in the office ‘but it’s not going to happen overnight,’ CBI boss Tony Danker says

  • The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) represents 190,000 UK businesses 
  • Danker told BBC radio that the world of work has ‘gone crazy’ since pandemic 
  • He also said the discussion over home working will be going on ‘for a few years’

Most company bosses ‘secretly’ want all of their employees to work in the office, says the head of the UK’s biggest business group.

Tony Danker, the director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), has said the ‘world of work’ has ‘totally gone crazy’ since the pandemic.

Speaking on Political Thinking with Nick Robinson, the CBI boss added that people will be talking about this ‘for a few years’.

‘You ask most bosses, everybody secretly wants everyone to come back into the office,’ Mr Danker told the BBC. 

Tony Danker, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), speaking at an event in London earlier this year

‘I just don’t think that’s going to happen overnight. I think we are all coping with this.’

Asked whether board members playing golf on Fridays and employees only working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is impacting Britain’s economic growth, he replied: ‘Look. Yeah, you might be right. I think the whole world of work is totally gone crazy. We have no idea where it’s going to land.’

This comes as tens of billions of pounds in additional funding will be required to keep public services going this year, according to the Telegraph.

A recent collapse in productivity has caused serious concern with some experts claiming that it is caused by weak management and working from home.

Experts and politicians have claimed working from home is one of the main reasons behind the recent slump in productivity since the pandemic 

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), public sector productivity fell 1.3% in the three months leading up to September compared with the previous quarter.

Last month, Jacob Rees-Mogg slammed the ‘second best’ work from home culture, saying: ‘You need people in the office to deliver services.’

The CBI represents 190,000 businesses across the UK which together employ nearly seven million people.

Mr Danker made the comments during a discussion about the UK’s labour market. 

He also spoke about creating ‘pathways’ for people on universal credit or who had been unable to work due to sickness to return to work.

He said: ‘We are going to work with companies to make sure that they can bring you health support and wraparound care to absorb yourself back into work.’

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