The current guidance on working from home in Scotland is to be updated, paving the way for a phased return to the office from this coming Monday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed the move during her weekly covid briefing to MSPs at Holyrood this afternoon.
The new guidance will recommend that, from January 31, employers should consider implementing hybrid working - with workers spending some time in the office and some time at home.
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This is a change to the guidance - which was strengthened in response to the omicron covid variant threat - which recommended home working 'whenever practical'.
During her covid update, Ms Sturgeon noted that the Scottish Government does not expect to see a "wholesale return to the office next week", saying that given that infection levels remain high, "a mass return at this stage is likely to set progress back".
However she went on to add the Government knows there are "many benefits to both employees and employers, and to the economy as a whole, in at least a partial return to the office at this stage".
As part of a phased return to the office, employers will encouraged to consider hybrid working, with the First Minister saying that the Government will look to them to determine how best to manage the transition "in consultation with workers and trade unions".
The move comes on the "strength of the latest data" according to the First Minister, with reported cases having fallen by just over a quarter and hospital occupancy rates falling also - from 1,546 people last week in hospital with covid to 1,392 today.
