British workers averaging three-day week amid rise of working from home, ONS reports

British workers are now effectively working one day less a week than before the coronavirus pandemic, new Government data suggests.

On Wednesday, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published data giving early insights into how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the labour market.

The research included changes in vacancies and actual hours worked and found the average British worker now works seven hours less a week – almost a full working day.

The ONS tracked data from October 2018 to May 2019 and also tracked average hours from October 2019 to April this year.

Since the lockdown was announced in March, the monthly average actual hours worked has declined sharply.

Between February and April this year, the actual hours worked in the UK fell by around 21.4 per cent, from 32 hours to 25.4. This is compared to the previous year, which saw averages remain at around 32 hours.

This equates to almost a full day's work, meaning that effectively Britons are working the equivalent of an average three-day week, instead of the traditional five-day week of eight hours a day.

The ONS data comes amid the growing trend for home working brought about by the lockdown, and researchers found the pandemic is having a "clear impact" on the average actual hours worked in the UK.

The ONS concluded: "The impact of the pandemic on the labour market is still evolving. The future performance of the labour market will be shaped by what happens when the Government support schemes comes to an end and how quickly business confidence builds up for firms to bring more workers from furlough and to increase hiring."

Christopher Snowdon, the head of lifestyle economics at the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA), said: "From what I can gather, the reduction in hours worked reflects reduced capacity even among the businesses that stayed open during lockdown.

"The exceptions are a few industries, such as farming and health, which you would not expect to be affected. We should expect this to continue for a long time as businesses try to cope with social distancing measures, lower footfall and a fearful population."