Face-to-face meetings are still preferred by white-collar professionals despite a general reluctance to return to the office.

 A total of 38% of public transport commuters said they were keen to continue with video meetings rather than face-to-face meetings compared to 28% of those who drive

As the UK begins its transition out of lockdown, new research from Venson Automotive Solutions among 200 employees found just 24% of employees are looking forward to returning to their workplace.

The research also revealed that 64% value collaborating face-to-face, opposed to video calls. This was across all respondents, of which 46% rely on public transport for getting to and from work and work-related meetings, with 54% reliant upon driving.

However, focusing on public transport commuters, a total of 38% said they were keen to continue with video meetings rather than face-to-face meetings compared to 28% of those who drive.

In fact, public transport users were highly keen to find alternatives to the need to travel for public meetings. One in four (26%) said they will do “their utmost” to avoid physical meetings and when travelling to a meeting is “a must”, 23% said they would call upon friends, family and colleagues to get a lift, rather than take public transport.

Danielle Tilley, business development director of Venson, said: “The reality is, for the foreseeable future, we will be faced with having to embrace a hybrid way of working until Covid is truly under control. Businesses will be busy ensuring flexible ways of working are in place for their employees, balancing working from home with being in the office and on the open road. But it’s looking highly likely that video meetings will remain part of our day-to-day business practices as we move forward.”