Fewer Wrexham and Flintshire residents are working from the office than they were before the coronavirus pandemic.

Google uses location data from phones and other personal devices to track trends in people's movement in different areas of their daily lives, including where they work.

The most recent figures show activity in workplaces in Wrexham in the working week to April 1 was 20% lower than during a five-week baseline period recorded before the coronavirus pandemic.

This was up from 22% below normal in the five days to March 25.

In Flintshire, it was 23% lower than the baseline period recorded before the coronavirus pandemic, up from 25% below normal in the five days to March 25.

In Wales, a legal requirement to work from home ended on January 28.

Activity in workplaces across the UK was 26% below normal in the most recent week's data – a figure which has remained around the same level since early March.

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The Institute for the Future of Work, an independent research and development institute, said lockdown restrictions acted as a catalyst for more remote work, with some employers and employees keen to retain the benefits.

A spokeswoman for the group said it provides the opportunity to work from anywhere, at anytime, and the ability to spend more time with families – but individual home working conditions matter significantly.

She added: "Our research finds that individual preferences vary hugely, with some missing the everyday social interactions of a shared work space and experiencing an increased blurring of work-life boundaries."

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The latest Google figures suggest that more Wrexham and Flintshire workers are in the office than at a similar time last year, when the UK was just emerging from a series of lockdowns.

Between March 22 and 26, 2021, activity in workplaces was 32% below the baseline and between March 23 and 27, 2020 – when the first UK lockdown began – it was 50% below normal levels, in Wrexham. 

In Flintshire, between March 22 and 26, 2021, activity in workplaces was 36% below the baseline.

And between March 23 and 27, 2020 – when the first UK lockdown began – it was 54% below normal levels.

Susan Clews, The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service chief executive, added: “Many employers and their staff have seen the benefits of flexible working during the pandemic and will wish to continue whilst others may be keen to get back to how they were working before Covid-19.

“Hybrid or home working may not be practical for everyone and there are different types of flexible working that may work better."