After working from home, now comes working on the go. The post-pandemic surge in hybrid working has prompted increasing numbers of professionals to carry out some work while on the move, logging in from airports and railway stations across the UK, according to research.
Footfall at transport hub-based workspaces has soared by 31% on average since 2022, according to figures from International Workplace Group (IWG), one of the world’s largest providers of serviced offices, whose brands include Regus.
Its facility at Birmingham airport, in a building next to the terminal, is among the busiest perches for workers in transit, IWG found, with visits rising by nearly two-thirds (65%), according to the data, which is measured through wifi log-ins across all IWG centres.
There was also growth in footfall at Southampton airport, which had a 39% increase, followed by Britain’s busiest railway station, London’s Liverpool Street (36%), and Paddington station (31%).
Workspace visits also increased at Farnborough airport in Hampshire, which is the UK’s busiest private jet airfield, as well as the London stations Blackfriars and King’s Cross St Pancras.
While it has been common for some time to see professionals working from laptops while on trains and planes, IWG believes the increase in visitors to its offices at transport hubs demonstrates workers’ desire to tick off tasks while waiting to board a flight or train, making use of time that otherwise may be unproductive.
“It’s clear that people are looking to seize the opportunity to work in places that are most convenient to them and their lifestyles,” said IWG’s chief executive, Mark Dixon. “More and more people are embracing the idea of combining work with travel, whether it’s for a few days tacked on to the end of a holiday or a few months as a digital nomad.”
Multiple surveys have shown that office-based employees who are able to carry out their role from home have grown used to working flexibly from their offices and home or another location.
Despite a string of recent back-to-office mandates from large corporates, the Office for National Statistics found that hybrid working was the standard pattern for more than a quarter (28%) of working adults in Great Britain in autumn 2024.
One of the most frequently reported business reasons for hybrid working was “improved staff wellbeing”, the ONS found.
Three-quarters of chief executives have seen improvements in productivity in their organisations since adopting hybrid working policies, according to separate research from IWG, which polled 500 business leaders in June.
Just over three-quarters (76%) of workers said they felt more motivated when given flexibility to work from different locations, according to a different survey of UK office staff who have a hybrid working pattern.
IWG said it was providing flexible workspaces at some of the world’s largest airports in cities including Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Dubai and Paris to meet the rising demand from professionals wanting to work on the move.
