The joke must have seemed merry at the time. The “minister for Brexit opportunities” leaves a calling card on his absent officials’ desks saying: “Sorry you were out when I visited. I look forward to seeing you in the office very soon.” He also suggests in a Mail on Sunday article that they might like to stick to what he called “the shires” and forgo their London weighting allowance.
The mind reels at the replies Jacob Rees-Mogg may receive. They could include: “Have been up all night trying to think of opportunities for the 98 British scientists told to relocate to the EU if they want any research money.” Or perhaps: “Have been at home trying to think of opportunities for British farmers we have refused to protect from EU imports for a fourth time.” Or perhaps even: “I just can’t face another opportunities meeting in Whitehall.”
Rees-Mogg’s Brexit has been largely responsible for 91,000 extra officials being appointed since 2015-16, of whom about 25,000 are attributable to Brexit. Lockdown and Brexit may have sent civil service productivity plummeting, but that is the fault of ministers, not officials. For two years, Rees-Mogg and his boss have been ordering workers to stay at home, causing many upheavals in their working lives as they have juggled work with other responsibilities, such as home schooling. Not all officials are like butlers, at the disposal of Rees-Mogg’s click of the fingers.
It is clear that the idea of office work as the “white-collar” equivalent of clock-watching factory work is dead. The pandemic and the digital revolution have shattered the relationship between labour and location. After a post-lockdown surge, data is now showing the “return to work” has plateaued. Tube travel into central London midweek has steadied at between 60% and 67% of pre-Covid levels, with a significant rise only on Thursdays, much favoured by the “three-day hybrids”. Law and finance firms are reporting offices at between 30 and 60% of capacity. Retail footfall has stabilised at 80% of pre-Covid numbers. The property consultants Remit estimated in February that clerical occupancy was as low as just 25%, far below pre-pandemic levels. This may change over time, but something drastic has happened and is unlikely to be reversed.
Nowadays the digital pressure of most types of work has little to do with the clock. Offices are inflexible and distracting places, prone to time-wasting chat and unnecessary meetings. This is in addition to the time and cost involved in commuting. We know that socialising is important to an organisation and to individual members of its staff. We know that the balance between on-screen and in-person contact is a delicate one, as is the balance between in-house and outsourcing. But we do not know how that balance is to be quantified and disciplined.
It’s not just clerical labour, but workers in the retail, hospitality and transport sectors are all experiencing radical changes in their workplaces. Giantism in office blocks, department stores and shopping malls may truly be a thing of the past. As the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, bluntly retorted to Rees-Mogg, his view of work was Dickensian, bringing to mind “images of burning tallow, rheumy eyes and Marley’s ghost”. Those days are over. But perhaps Rees-Mogg’s officials, who find themselves working in a department that deals in “Brexit opportunities”, have simply despaired of coming to work 9-to-5 for a contradiction in terms.
Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
