Lockdown Generation: Young people's prospects hurt by constant working from home, says business expert

And while it has been nearly four years since restrictions were finally lifted, the impact of a dramatic shift in daily life is still having massive ramifications today.

It comes as:

• A key leader who was deeply involved in lockdown discussions has demanded children and young people are at the heart of planning for the next pandemic
• A speech therapy expert warned the true impact of restrictions on child development will be unclear for years
• Figures revealed one in five children are still persistently absent from school

Some 32 per cent of workers aged 16-29 still work at least partly from home five years on from offices closing during lockdowns, according to a recent Office for National Statistics survey.

And 15 per cent of adult workers say they work permanently from home - a figure that has stayed stable since 2022.

The “WFH” culture has also seen footfall in Yorkshire’s city centres drop especially on Mondays and Fridays, according to Mark Casci, head of policy and representation at North and West Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce

Mr Casci said: “There’s a huge amount of concern from senior personnel in businesses that they’re not getting the opportunity to upskill and train the younger end of the workforce.

“There’s a desire to work from home frequently. I think most business leaders want to respect how staff want to operate, but I just worry that we have a lost generation of workers coming through that don’t have leadership skills.

“Homeworking wasn’t a brand new thing that we invented in March 2020. But I think a lot of young people who started work during or just before the pandemic see it as the norm, and possibly even a workplace right.

“But it’s not an ideal place to learn on the job. You’re not really hearing conversations, and it can be quite a limited experience.”

Mr Casci said businesses across the region had worked to make their offices more attractive, from refurbishments to relocations.

Footfall is showing promising signs of bouncing back, said Mr Casci. Leeds City Centre saw Christmas shopping numbers rise up from pre-pandemic levels.

But the rise of “TWTs” - people who only work in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays - is still having an impact.

Mr Casci said: “There’s a weird paradigm where particularly in York and Leeds, Monday and Fridays tend to be a bit quieter.

“The impact of lockdown five years on that has not gone away. We’re less productive as a nation and we’re poorer as a result.”

See pages 15, 16, 17, and 18