Almost half of office workers are stuck in heavy traffic or crowded trains on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with rush hours and public transport busier than before the Covid pandemic, a survey by research bureau Kantar Public has found.

Four in 10 respondents in the survey, which was carried out on behalf of sustainable transport lobby group Coalition Anders Reizen said they are not tied to a physical place to do their job.

Others said they could vary the days and hours they work but did not do so because of meetings and a lack of cooperation from bosses.

“Workers want to know that coming into work serves a purpose. Agreement about, for example, different working hours, days and working from home would help achieve that,” the organisation’s director Hugo Houppermans said.

Houppermans said there are plenty of ways companies can avoid the Tuesday and Thursday congestion. “Some don’t start until 10am, or agree to hold team meetings on, for instance, Mondays and Wednesdays.”

Not everyone can switch days or hours, however. “Our clients often only want work sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, not on Fridays,” Boris Jockin of Koos Service Design in Amsterdam told broadcaster NOS. “Then it’s a trip from Amsterdam to Arnhem on a crowded train. So nothing changes.”