The great divide: are office workers more productive than those at home?

Amazon has told corporate employees they must return to the office five days a week from 2 January. Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP

Four years ago when the world of work was upended by the Covid pandemic, confident predictions were made that a permanent shift in remote working would follow the removal of lockdown restrictions.

Much has clearly changed since. Some of the earliest preachers of the brave new teleworking world – including the US tech companies Google and Microsoft – are among the most vocal to repent.