Tory mayoral hopeful Susan Hall says work has moved to a three-day office week
Tory mayoral hopeful Susan Hall says work has moved to a three-day office week, despite many City bosses urging staff back into offices full-time.
The Conservative London mayoral candidate said the post-pandemic working from home revolution has become too established to undo, in an interview with the Telegraph.
Hall, who is standing against Labour mayor Sadiq Khan in the 2024 election, said: “I think we’ve very much moved into a three-day week and I don’t think that that can necessarily be taken back.
“We’re living in a different world now and it wouldn’t be for the mayor to dictate what they [workers] do.”
Her comments in favour of the three-day week came as an apparent show of support for the so-called ‘TWaTs’. The term, first coined by City A.M., is short-hand of those that work in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, while working from home on Monday and Friday.
Hall, a former small business owner, said her focus was on moving forwards “post-Covid”.
The ex-hair salon boss said: “So very often these big companies that work from this area [central London] are reducing the size of their work space, so they couldn’t accommodate people coming back.
“In City Hall, where we are, they couldn’t accommodate all their staff being in five days a week. So we have to live with what we’ve got and we are in a post-Covid world.”
But Hall – who has framed herself as the anti-ULEZ option – insisted, as mayor, she would concentrate on “absolutely vital” business investment in the capital, including boosting the night-time economy and supporting public transit.
“Young people in my office are telling me that even if they go out for a meal the restaurants are starting to really shut down by half-past nine,” she said.
“We also need to look at the offer of transport at night-time. Because if you go out for an evening out you want to know that you can get home.”