While the SNP government has previously encouraged home working, Ms Sturgeon’s call for every business that asked staff to work from home to do so again for at least five and a half weeks was met with dismay.

Liz Cameron, the chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, insisted employers were best placed to determine the “right balance” between home and office working.

“Scotland’s economy and many retail, hospitality and leisure businesses have benefited from the gradual and phased return of office workers to our town and city centres since the easing of restrictions,” she said.

“Differing business needs will require differing work models, and it’s essential that there are no changes made to the return to office guidance already in place that restricts businesses and their employees’ ability to work from offices if they choose to do so.

“To secure a return to economic growth and safeguard employee wellbeing, it’s important that the Scottish government fully consults with Scotland’s business community before considering the introduction of any additional restrictions.”

Downing Street said it disagreed with Ms Sturgeon’s position, adding that while omicron was being kept under review there was no change to the limited number of tighter rules brought in recently in England.

In what she described as a “blunt” message to employers, the First Minister said: “If you had staff working from home at the start of the pandemic, please now enable them to do so again. We are asking you to do this from now until the middle of January, when we will review this advice again.

“I know this is difficult, but I cannot stress enough how much difference we think this could make in helping stem transmission and avoid the need for even more onerous measures.”