Major jump in Scottish workers heading into office in March, says IWG

Scotland saw office and co-working visits increase by almost a third in March as employees embrace hybrid working, according to global serviced office space giant IWG.

The group, whose brands include Regus and Spaces, has found that north of the Border, Aberdeen Airport and Edinburgh’s Fort Kinnaird and Lochrin Square were among the fastest-growing locations.

Visits to Scottish offices and workspaces increased by 29 per cent last month amid the continued lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, and “more people felt empowered to choose how and where they worked”, IWG said.

It added that the data, based on its daily Wi-Fi logins, shows Wednesdays and Thursdays are the most popular days to travel into the office.

The group, which says it is the world’s largest flexible office and workspace provider, said Fort Kinnaird (+41 per cent) experienced the most significant growth in workers visiting its shared office, followed by Aberdeen Airport and Lochrin Square (both +40 per cent).

Also in the Scottish top ten were Glasgow’s West George Street (+34 per cent) and Charing Cross (+32 per cent) followed by Edinburgh’s George Street and St Andrew Square (both +26 per cent), as well as West Regent Street in Glasgow (also 26 per cent), Marischal Square in Aberdeen (+25 per cent), and South Gyle in Edinburgh (+24 per cent).

IWG said more than a quarter of those surveyed stated that they would consider changing jobs if asked to return to the office full time, while 90 per cent flagged flexible working as an important benefit if looking for a new role.

IWG says the data shows 'strong appetite to spend part of the time in an office environment' (file image). Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto.

Scottish office workers identified better mental health (60 per cent), improved work/life balance (58 per cent), and more time for hobbies and friends (53 per cent) as key benefits of hybrid working.

Mark Dixon, founder and chief executive of IWG, said: “The shift to more flexible ways of working in the heart of local communities is happening fast, and is irreversible.

“The data shows not only is there strong appetite to spend part of the time in an office environment, particularly local flex spaces, but the flexibility to rebalance personal and professional working commitments.

“As Covid restrictions across Scotland have eased, the rise in use of shared workplaces demonstrates the growing popularity of hybrid working amongst employees, and the positive correlation with this freedom and productivity levels.”

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