Lessons from remote: will firms apply them for the big return? Lessons from remote: will firms apply them for the big return? Jessica Reeder at GitLab explores the benefit from remote work, including higher staff productivity, better work-life balance and less office politics. One in three Britons has worked from home in the past twelve months, and in that time, we have learned some intriguing lessons. Now, with social distancing and exile from the office soon predicted to end, will these lessons be meaningfully applied by employers? Office for National Statistics (ONS) data show that 36% of employed UK citizens worked from home in 2020. This is subject to change after the government’s social distancing review due next Monday, May 17th or alternatively, the June 21 target date for main Covid restrictions to be dropped altogether. But though employers may be looking forward to a big office return, in many ways, we can never “go back” to the office habits and dynamics of pre-Covid times.