A total of 43 of the firms who spoke to the BBC said they would utilise a combination of home and office working, with staff encouraged to work from home two to three days a week.

Four firms said they were keeping the idea of hybrid working, working from home some of the time, under review.

Under current COVID-19 restrictions, people who can work from home are still advised to do so. However, the rules are set to change in June when the UK Government hopes to end all social distancing restrictions.

Mark Read, chief executive of advertising firm WPP, said: “We’re never going to go back to working the way we used to work.” However, he told the BBC that the new ways of using the office necessitate careful planning.

He continued: “People are working from home three to four days a week so we probably need 20% less space, but we’re not going to do that if everyone’s working from home on Mondays and Fridays.”

Other companies listed “smart working” and “flexibility” as reasons for introducing hybrid working, with many suggesting that workers would be able to make their own choices about how often they come into the office.

Danny Harmer, chief people officer at insurance giant Aviva, which has offices in Perth, said 95% of its workers would like to be able to spend some of their time working flexibly and remotely in different locations.

However, she added that the company had to be mindful that many staff appreciate being in an office, such as those who live alone or do not have a suitable place to work.

Recruitment firm Adecco, which has 34,000 UK workers, said about four-fifths of its staff now work remotely. It said: “Rather than having pre-set rules we are encouraging our leaders to engage with colleagues to implement strategies that work for their business.”

The BBC questioned 50 big employers, ranging from banks to retailers, to get an idea of when workers may return to the office. The firms contacted by the BBC covered 1.1 million workers in the UK.

Last month, Scottish Financial News reported that HSBC UK and JP Morgan staff would work from home permanently in the wake of the pandemic. PwC has also announced a deal to allow its 22,000 employees greater flexibility for post-pandemic working. KPMG has also moved to a hybrid working model.

According to research published by Deloitte last month, More than one in five UK workers (23%) - the equivalent of 7.5 million - are hoping to work from home all, or almost all, of the time once lockdown restrictions have lifted.