Two-thirds (66 per cent) of businesses will return to their pre-Covid staff levels after all restrictions are ended according to research.

Office sampling and employee rewards specialist, gemsatwork, conducted a survey among 411,013 employees between June 11 and 15 which showed 66 per cent aim to be ‘back to normal’ as soon as the final step of the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown ends on July 19.

That is despite attempts by ministers in Whitehall to give millions of office staff a ‘default’ right to work from home under plans which would make it impossible for employers to insist on staff attending the workplace unless they can show it is essential.

In a further blow to the possible legislation later this year which the Government will consult over in the summer, a huge 85 per cent of employees in the gemsatwork network reported that they would be in the workplace at least once a week after all restrictions are removed.

Almost half (47%) of workplaces have seen their staff return to the office on a day-to-day basis already according to the survey. The report also highlighted that 77 per cent of workplaces that closed fully during the most recent lockdown have re-opened and 58 per cent of workers visit the office at least once a week.

With offices now approaching half-full, gemsatwork will on Monday (June 28) begin a nationwide campaign with KIND Snacks as part of its ‘Thank God It’s Monday’ campaign.

The Brighton-based product sampling firm is working alongside the Mars-owned FMCG brand to distribute 300,000 single breakfast bars across the country to employees who have returned to the workplace after the Covid-19 pandemic.

For some office workers not looking forward to returning to the office on a Monday morning after the weekend, the aim of the KIND Snacks campaign is to give staff a lift with one of its breakfast bars. Its creative reads: ‘THANK GOD IT’S MONDAY. KIND knows Mondays can be a little miserable, but they don’t have to be. They’re on a mission to celebrate Mondays’.

gemsatwork was founded in 2015 by four entrepreneurs Luca Spinella, Toby Ginn, Matthew Huntly and Ian Brookes and has an impressive client roster including Coca-Cola, Lindt and Unilever. The business has more than 10,000 employers signed up to its network including Natwest, Regus and Legal & General with a total reach of over 4.5million employees.

Mr Spinella, managing director at gemsatwork, said: “Our research on the number of people back in offices already is very encouraging for the FMCG industry, especially for brands with on-the-go products. The best product sampling campaigns introduce consumers to the right products at the right time. With millions of people figuring out their new routines again as they head back into work, sampling a tasty and convenient breakfast bar to this audience now, makes a lot of sense so we’re super excited about this sampling campaign with KIND.”

Cat Hann, brand manager at KIND Snacks, said: “We’re really excited to celebrate employees starting to return to the office with our ‘Thank God It’s Monday’ campaign. We want to encourage colleagues to catch up over a KIND breakfast bar and a coffee after what has been a tough few months. “We’ve worked with gemsatwork for a number of years now and we knew they were the perfect partner to help us distribute our breakfast bars to hungry office workers!”