October 2020

Working from home, the results are in.

With working from home (WFH) becoming the norm over the last few months, a survey carried out by NUI Galway makes for some interesting reading. 

The first phase of the survey was published in April and found that just over 83% of respondents were in favour of working from home. We were only a month into the pandemic and people were getting to grips with schools being closed, organising home office space and technology issues such as connecting to company systems/emails and broadband issues.

Phase 2 was carried out in October to give a current picture of the situation and how attitudes have changed in just over 6 months, the survey highlighted some very interesting statistics:

• 94% would like to work remotely all or some of the time post covid19, this is up from 83% in April

• 7% of people relocated due to the flexibility home-working offers

• 23% of people would consider relocating in the future

• 27% would like to work remotely 5 days per week, this is up from 12% in April

• 54% of people would like to work remotely a few days per week

• 16% of people in April did not want to work from home at all, this has now dropped to just 6%

• In April, 87% of people were working from home, this has now dropped to 68% which suggests a mix of remote and onsite working

The survey also highlighted the challenges felt by respondents in April and October:

Challenges in April:

• Not being able to switch off from work

• Communicating with colleagues

• Workspace issues

Challenges in October:

• Staying Motivated

• Isolation

• Improving Workspace 

The top 3 benefits for remote working were the same as they were in April, no commuting, work-day flexibility and reduced costs. 

Overall, the survey found a strong demand for remote working post Covid19. Since the initial lockdown, remote workers have shown a willingness to continue working from home. The data certainly suggests attitudes to remote working have changed and it looks like home working is here to stay.

If you would like any more advice on remote hiring or the Irish hiring market, please contact me at patrick@enterprisepeople.ie