Boris Johnson has said workers will be able to return to the office after 19 July when Covid restrictions are due to end.
Government guidance that people who can work from home should, is set to end with other restrictions.
Some firms said they were looking forward to "seeing our great towns and cities fill up again".
However, human resources body CIPD said the removal of restrictions "shouldn't signal a mass return to workplaces".
Many office workers have worked predominantly from home since the first lockdown in March last year.
Almost all Covid restrictions are expected to go in two weeks' time, and it will then be up to employers to determine whether their staff should be in the office.
Centre for Cities' Paul Swinney said the lack of people working in offices had been a "real challenge" for shops, cafes and pubs who used to depend on office workers for business.
"The change to the 'back to the office' advice will doubtless be good news for them, but a question mark remains over how many workers will return now restrictions have lifted," he said.
Almost all of 50 of the UK's biggest employers previously told the BBC they do not plan to bring staff back to the office full-time.
Some 43 of the firms said they would embrace so-called hybrid working, a mix of home and office working, with staff encouraged to work from home two to three days a week.
