Government urges young people back into office and says older workers have "obligation" to mentor in person

The chancellor of the exchequer has said that he believes young people should aim to go back into physical workplaces.

In an interview with LinkedIn News, Rishi Sunak said that remote working may be detrimental to the careers of some workers, such as college graduates and new employees.

The chancellor said that video conferences on platforms such as Zoom and Teams were not a long-term substitute for being in the office, adding that he feels that young people can build better working relationships in person.

He commented: “I’ve spoken previously about young people in particular benefiting from being in offices: it was really beneficial to me when I was starting out in my career.

“The mentors that I found when I first started my job, I still talk to and they’ve been helpful to me all through my career even after we’ve gone in different ways.”

This comes as skills minister Gillian Keegan urged older workers to go into the office to support newer employees in an interview with Talk Radio.

She said: “All of us can still remember all the people we learned from all of our career and that is important for young people as well.

“We have that obligation to pass on our knowledge, our skills, our talents, to nurture people, to mentor people. That is still an important part and there is a limit to how much you can do that on screen.”

More than £11m of Conservative party donations came from private landlords - including those who own commercial properties and workspaces - last year.

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