LONDON, (Reuters) – Women working mostly at home could see their career suffer as significant numbers of men return to work after the COVID-19 pandemic. This was according to Catherine Mann, Bank of England policymaker.

Mann, who is part of the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee said that while online communication cannot replicate spontaneous office conversations important for recognition and promotion in many workplaces, it can’t replace them.

The virtual platforms they offer are far more advanced than the ones they had five years ago. However, the spontaneity and extemporaneity of real life are difficult to recreate in virtual settings,” she said at a Financial News event for women working in finance.

Mann explained that women worked from home due to difficulties accessing childcare or COVID-related disruptions to their schooling. Mann noted that men went back to work because they were unable to get to child care.

Two tracks are possible. You have the ones who use the virtual track, and the others who use the physical track. “I do fear that these tracks will develop and we will know exactly who is going to be on which track,” she stated.

Mann, an economics professor and chief advisor at Citi and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD), was a member of the BoE since September.

Rishi Sunak, the British minister of finance warned that younger workers could miss out on developing skills and working relationships by working from home in August.

British firms reported last month that 60% of their employees were working from home, while the percentages for different sectors vary. According to the Office for National Statistics, 34% of professional staff work in an office environment, while 24% do their full-time from home. 35% of professionals are working at a combination.

The data doesn’t show a break down by sex. ONS data from earlier years showed that women felt more comfortable working from home than did men. However, men claimed that working at home allowed them to come up with innovative ideas. Women found it frustrating.