Times argued that up to one third of US workers were able to work from home, and showed how the morning and evening peaks of road and public transport congestion had been significantly flattened, even where total travel volumes had returned to near pre-pandemic levels. That reflects the many more people choosing to travel at the time that suits them, rather than to meet an expectation of being at a workplace from 9 until 5.

It stands to reason that offered more flexibility, most people will take it. Personal autonomy is a key contributor to wellbeing. But until recently there were three main barriers to giving individuals in teams more flexibility in how they worked.

One was the lack of technology to make remote working effective. The second, and more significant, was cultural. It was generally expected that you should be at your workplace when you were being paid to be there, and there was often a distrust that individuals working from home would put in the same effort. Thirdly, it was felt that flexibility was just not possible in front line operational roles. As a result, until the pandemic only more progressive and trusting employers provided their employees with a high degree of flexible working.

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