As we slowly but surely emerge from the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is becoming clear that whilst some things may return to what they were prior to last March’s first lockdown, other elements of our lives will have been changed irrevocably.
In particular, the fact that nearly all of us have had to stay at home for most of the last fourteen months means that our relationship with the locality in which we live has probably changed forever.
This phenomenon was explored in a recent report from the thinktank Demos and financial business Legal & General that looked specifically at post-pandemic places. This was done through a poll of 20,000 adults in Britain during December 2020 and was followed up two months later with a series of focus groups
The results are fascinating and reinforces the view that the way we perceive at ‘place’ has changed and actually become stronger during the pandemic which, of course, will cause a change in behaviour into the medium term. This was especially the case for the 65% of people who, because they were either furloughed or had to work from home, had no choice but to spend more time in their local area.
Of course, this did not mean that everyone was happy with where they were living with 2.5 million people stating they had moved for reasons explicitly relating to the pandemic, with another 5.5 million saying they planned to do so or were considering it. The main reasons for this included wanting more suitable housing, to be nearer family and being in a more supportive community are the most commonly cited reasons for having moved although there were also signs of economic distress: being unable to afford their original location and looking for better job opportunities.
And whilst the focus of the media seems to have bene about the middle class escaping to rural areas, it is interesting to note that it was actually low paid young urban workers moving within densely built-up areas who did the most moving during the lockdown. For those who didn’t move, it would seem that due to the forced changes in daily routines, more people would spend more time in their local area after the pandemic.
What is of particular interest are the findings on home working. The study showed that 79% of people who were required to work from home want to continue doing so and there is support for having more local desk space for remote office workers especially among young people.
The change in spending patterns where many have gone back to shopping in their local high streets seems set to continue with people looking forward to spending more money in their local neighbourhoods and town centres when the restrictions are lifted than they did before the pandemic.
So what are the implications going forward? According to the authors, a move to more remote working, flexible in location, should be actively pursued by the Government. In Wales, the Welsh Government is already encouraging an increase in remote working and has set a long-term ambition for 30% of the Welsh workforce to work away from a traditional office.
This can be achieved by accelerating the intention of making all jobs flexible by default, with location flexibility explicitly included so that employers would have to demonstrate why a specified location is required for employees. Remote working can also be encouraged through introducing tax incentives for ‘remote-working vouchers’, similar in design to the current childcare voucher scheme, that could be redeemed at premises of an employee’s choice for firms that participate.
In particular, there should be a focus on those areas where homeworking is not the norm as part of the levelling up agenda. For public bodies, this can be stimulated by potentially converting local civic buildings to remote working spaces that could be used by any civil servant whether living locally or wishing to relocate from elsewhere.
Finally, the lockdowns have demonstrated the importance of having outdoor spaces especially for those living in high population-density urban accommodation and it has made a right to a modest outdoor space to garden, play or simply relax even more of an imperative.
Therefore, whilst the last fifteen months have been a particular challenge, the one good thing to emerge from the lockdowns is that many of us have changed our relationship with where we live forever.
Certainly, the increase in working away from the office looks set to continue as will higher levels of shopping within local shops. Both of these trends can only be welcomed and will inevitably have long term effects on organisational development, consumer spending patterns and, more importantly, the way we live, work and play.