A new report from the Office for National Statics (ONS) in the UK has it that more than 100,000 jobs have been created in the tech industry since the beginning of the COVD-19 pandemic

The organization published a data this week which shows that information and communication roles have increased by 104,000 since April 2020, even as many other sectors of the economy continue to struggle. There are now almost 1.6 million technology jobs in the UK.

While in the past that increase in jobs might have meant finding more desks in the office, preliminary results from Harvey Nash‘s Tech Survey 2021 suggests that technology companies may need to dramatically scale back their office space given the growing appetite for remote working beyond COVID-19.

More than three-quarters (79%) of tech workers which over one million people working in the sector hoped to continue working remotely for the majority of the week even after the pandemic according to tech the recruiter.

American companies like Salesforce have implemented the work-from-home routine which will allow its employees to work from home permanently even though some might decide to show up at the office upon their choice.

There was a survey sample of some 500 UK tech professionals which showed that a whooping 95% wanted to continue working from home for at least 2 – 5 days a week in comparison, 42% of tech professionals wanted to work from home for about 2 – 5 days a week prior to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, more than a third (38%) of tech professionals reported that home working during the pandemic had increased the distance they are prepared to live from the office by ‘a little’ (12.59%) or ‘significantly’ (25.44%).

Numerous IT companies have continued to show their support for remote-first workplace experience even beyond the COVID-19 pandemic which makes a lot question the role that traditional offices will play within the new hybrid-style workplace to be experienced in the near future.

For some organizations, this might just mean transforming offices to prioritize meeting space and socializing which Salesforce is a great example of. The company stated it will reconfigure its workplaces into a studio-like “hubs” with very few desks but more collaboration and breakout spaces.

Another big news is from banking giant HSBC which announced its plan to slash its office space by almost half in an attempt to cut cost. The company realized its employees are much more productive while working from home compared to office.

However, the organization will hang onto its headquarters in London’s Canary Wharf. Quinn said that “the nature of working in the office will change” to reflect more flexible styles of working.

“We believe we’ll achieve it via a very different style of working post-COVID with a more hybrid model,” he added.

Like many major cities, the momentum behind the long-term shift to remote work appears to be strong in the UK capital.

But the work-from-home trend doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon considering the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. While vaccines are being scheduled for general immunization campaigns, the question about the final outcome of the pandemic is yet unknown.

A survey of 400 senior decision makers by international law firm Bird & Bird found that 78% of London businesses expected remote working that has been adopted during the pandemic to continue for the foreseeable future.

As a result, three in five (60%) decision makers say that they are now investing more in their corporate culture than they were 12 months ago, rising to almost 80% among technology and communications businesses.

In Harvey Nash’s survey, the shift to remote working over the past 12 months has caused work locations as well as remote working to be seen as one of the top factors for job-hunters as well as for the first time.

With the equivalent of one million UK tech workers aiming to continue working the majority of the week from home post-pandemic, Harvey Nash concluded this will not only have a huge impact on tech office space and hubs, but will also drive the creation of more remote roles in professions such as cybersecurity, data analysis, software engineering, and AI and machine learning.

Bev White, chief executive of Harvey Nash Group, said: “The ONS figures underline the strong health of tech amidst booming demand for digital and cloud-based solutions and services in the COVID era. We don’t see any sign of this changing, and expect many thousands more jobs to be created in tech through the rest of this year and beyond.”

Originally published on TechRepublic