Let’s adjust to living with Covid and get Britain back to work

The Covid-19 era is over, leaving a stagnant and lethargic workforce in its wake. It’s time to wake up, says Matthew Lynn.

Tired man looking at his phone
We are just not as productive in our PJs
(Image credit: © Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Two long years after the first cases of Covid-19 were reported in the UK and the pandemic is now, to all intents and purposes, over. With infection rates down and vaccination reducing the number of deaths and hospitalisations, we can accept that Covid-19 is, for most of us, a mild virus that will probably circulate forever. We can get back to normal again, yet companies are still struggling to do so.

Many offices are still half-empty and staff reluctant to go back to their desks five days a week. Businesses are still fobbing off their customers with lame “because of Covid-19” excuses. The public sector is still operating in second gear, with simple tasks such as driving tests taking months to book. Many universities are still teaching remotely, trade shows are cancelled, and training and new projects on hold until the outlook clears.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.