I am surprised that this is still a matter of debate. If as an organisation you are paying a rental or at least rates for a premises, you must believe there is advantage in having people come to work.

UK’s biggest DIY investment platform calls employees back to the workplace three days a week

The story would be the financial services company that operated without a premises and thought that it could manage meetings with large clients at other company’s offices or on web calls.

Hargreaves Lansdown are finding a new premises (I am sure going to an old new premises launch only 10 or 15 years ago. This new premises needs to be visited by staff at least three times a week as a matter of habituality. The company is planning to move into its new office building over the summer and will move employees in stages from September to allow them to settle into the new space, one of “the people” told the FT. These “people” told Emma Dunkley

there was still “flexibility” for its employees as they move into their “new home in Bristol” to spend “more time together”.

If you have a subscription , you can discover the attitude of Revolut, of TSB and JP Morgan who define their demands on people they pay financial services wages to. Only JP Morgan expect 5 day a week attendance.

The flexibility of the strategies of professional firms such as lawyers and accountants in the City can be measured by the emptiness of public transport on Monday and Friday which now appear to be an extension of the weekend for many people.

I am not sure whether a draconian stance on work attendance is a sign of weakness or of confidence that staff will work as well at home. There is however the suspected advantage of having people together that they can share ideas and spark innovation through interaction.

Another interaction which has diminished lately is the capacity of many people I am working with to answer the telephone. The normal response to many of those I know is to reserve a response to a digital message. Those who send digital messages are like webinar attendants who you cannot see – rather hard to read.  We are now getting to the point where people are avoiding turning on their videos on web calls, some lurk with audio muted.

No wonder companies are reckoning to be at work is to be “at work”. My 94 year old mother reminded me last week that if I couldn’t confirm where my office was that day , I couldn’t claim to be “out of it”.