According to Hamptons in the first six months of this year, and largely when the UK was in lockdown, those fleeing the capital bought 61,830 properties in the home counties. This is the highest half year figure since Hamptons started tracking such information. Now many of these movers may still be able to visit their office 2-3 days a week without much extra effort, but will all of them need or want to visit the office weekly? I suspect a significant number will look to rebalance their lives to find a role closer to home. I’ve also spoken to many individuals who are considering retiring. They’ve saved money over the last 18 months, they’ve realised they enjoy a more simple life, and they don’t want their old life back. Finally, it’s made others think that they want to push on in their career. Perhaps they felt they were treading water before and they have new energy. All of these factors, combined, whether rightly or wrongly, with perceptions of how well employers managed the pandemic will cause a huge amount of resignations. It’s already happening in the US, which is ahead of the UK in terms of reopening. In fact, the problem in the US is so acute it’s being called The Great Resignation! The Great Resignation is yet to start in the UK, but I feel it will happen in the autumn, unless there’s another lockdown and then it will be delayed. In niche markets, this will cause salary inflation. Within the City, many people have also decided to spend lockdown in their country of birth and some won’t want to return. So the problem in an international community like the City could be severe.