Boots HQ staff ordered back to the office five days a week
STAFF at Boots HQ have been ordered back to the office five days a week.
The pharmacy and retail chain’s managing director Seb James told employees that he wanted the office to be the “normal place of work for the whole week”.
Boots employs 8,000 people, 15 per cent of its 52,000 workforce, at its Nottingham HQ.
The full-time office plan came after staff previously returned to the HQ three days a week.
Mr James said: “There’s no doubt in my mind that informal conversations and brief catch-ups have been better for our Boots culture than the enforced formality of remote meetings.”
But workers took to social media platform TikTok saying it was a step backwards.
One said: “Good way to cut down on staff without paying redundancy.”
But another said: “Retail staff can’t do hybrid so I think it’s fair or it just causes resentment.”
Industry experts said Boots’ plan for a £7billion London stock exchange listing was encouraging bosses to make sure targets were being met.
Boots, owned by US retail giant Walgreens Boots Alliance, also has to justify its expensive property assets, which is harder if the office is often empty.
A spokesperson said: “We are asking team members to make the office their usual place of work from September 1.
“We value the team spirit that comes with being together.”
Online retailers AO World and THG previously ordered staff to return to office five days a week.
A recent KPMG survey found that two thirds of chief executives expected their workers to have returned to the office full-time within three years.