A new life for the high street - A nationwide program of repurposing city and town centres should be

Having greater flexibility with working hours, more time in the day due to no longer commuting and being around family more are cited as some of the most popular advantages to being away from the office.3 The crisis may, therefore, prove a catalyst for a radical restructuring of the nature of work in the UK. [...] Two thirds of the control group in the experiment (those that stayed in the office) opted to remain in the office. [...] Half of home workers opted to return to the office, citing "concerns over the loneliness of home working and the lower rates of promotion." The performance gains by home workers nearly doubled after the experiment ended, reflecting the fact that those not enjoying the experience chose to return to the office – leaving a group of homeworkers for whom working remotely is a success. [...] The SMF has recently argued for government to act as an “employer of last resort” and provide a Universal Jobs Guarantee scheme for those left out of work by the coronavirus crisis.22 Ultimately, after years of 10 A NEW LIFE FOR THE HIGH STREET decline in the public sector share of the workforce, the importance of government employment looks set to rise again. [...] In an attempt to boost local employment in these deprived areas, ZFUs carry an additional requirement that businesses must employ one third of their employees from within the zone in order to reap the tax benefits of the policy.24 In the context of urban decline due to a loss of retail and hospitality employment, tax incentives could be used to encourage new kinds of firms to relocate to city and.