The Richard Spooner Column: Shaking off home comforts�

It 's a gross understatement to say things have changed a bit in the past year. Whole lifestyles have been turned upside down and only now are we getting a whiff of freedom as spring starts to bring us hope.

Many of the changes forced on us by the pandemic may stay with us forever, or at least for the next year or so.

While working practices have probably undergone the biggest upheaval, the way we shop and buy anything from cars to toilet paper has been torn up.

The language of selling has changed too. No more whispered asides form a shy and retiring car salesman urging you to take a look at a little snip that has just come in.

Take an email I had the other day. This company said it “� delivers class-leading automotive ecommerce solutions through its�software platform, real-time programmatic marketing and intelligent digital infrastructures. It works with global vehicle manufacturers,?the world's largest dealer groups,?and independent retailers throughout the UK, the Americas, Europe, APAC, MENA, the Far East and Australia ”.

Now I think it means they flog car from a variety of manufacturers. This company is called Gforces, who say that in the UK a car is purchased every nine minutes on their digital platform. And they also discovered that the most popular time to purchase new wheels is now during office hours between 10am and midday.

Which brings us to another sea change in the way we work. Many of us have become used to wearing a shirt or top with PJs hidden from the Zoom lens.

A HR software firm based in Munich carried out a survey to find out if UK companies are prepared for a long-term digital shift.

Personio found that one in four employees in the UK would resign from their current job if they were forced to return to the office. And, they claim, more than 37 per cent felt that their company was avoiding implementing new ideas like flexible working schedules, and were persisting with compulsory attendance.

However, only 12 per cent of surveyed employees were dissatisfied with the way their employers looked after them in these uncertain times and an optimistic 41 per cent believed their employer was likely to permanently retain the flexible working hours introduced as a response to the pandemic.

Interestingly, the survey further reveals that businesses introduced various opportunities for their employees to adapt to the current situation.

Almost half of all UK employees (43 per cent) said they had the opportunity to work from home, a third (31 per cent) also said they had been offered flexible working hours to adjust to the new balance between work and home life, and 22 per cent were introduced to new digital tools for communication and organisation purposes.

One in three (34 per cent) UK employees had been offered equipment such as chairs and tables. In addition, 33 per cent indicated that they were offered mental health support. At least a quarter of UK employees (26 per cent) said they were being provided with on-going coaching on the emotional challenges of managing a work-life balance.

So working life looks quite tickety-boo working at home and, understandably, many workers will be reluctant to give it up. The prospect of having to again flog into a city every day by road or rail must fill many with horror, not to mention nerves about using public transport.

And if you do take the safe option of driving, there will now be the prospect, in Birmingham and Bath at least, of having to pay a Clean Air Zone charge from 1 June.

It has been amazing how businesses have adapted successfully to most employees working from home and as restrictions begin to ease in the spring many bosses and their workforces will have to do some deep thinking.

Like, do I take dog for a walk now or wait until it 's the official time to knock off in my dining room office�