Scottish organisations and employees are embracing hybrid work more than anywhere else in the UK, according to new research.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research, alongside Virgin Media O2 Business, surveyed 502 business decision-makers and 2,000 consumers last July, finding that on average, Scottish employees want to work 2.8 days a week from home – a rise of 254% compared with before the pandemic.
The UK average following the lifting of all Covid-19 restrictions was 2.35 days.
The research also showed that Scottish respondents are enjoying a variety of other benefits linked to hybrid working practices.
On average, Scottish respondents had an additional 1.7 hours of leisure time a day when working remotely, which, when scaled up, equals 442 hours a year or 18.4 days.
Across the UK, business leaders said that increased remote working has resulted in a 4.9% increase in customer satisfaction, a 3.6% increase in employee satisfaction and a 3.4% increase in productivity since 2020.
In addition, hybrid working is making Scotland an appealing option for skilled workers from the rest of the UK. The research found that - of those employees who indicated a willingness to relocate thanks to remote working - Scotland could see an influx of 238,000 employees.
Assuming that employees would retain their current jobs and salaries before moving to the region and working remotely, this could lead to a £7.1m injection into the Scottish economy - the highest economic uplift of anywhere Virgin Media O2 Business and the Cebr surveyed.
Mike Smith, director of large enterprise and public sector at Virgin Media O2 Business, said: “This research shows that embracing hybrid working can have concrete economic and societal impacts for Scotland and no doubt other areas of the UK - now business leaders need to ensure they are listening to their workforces and offer choice.
“This includes access to technology but also training with the relevant hardware, apps, and security - supporting staff in this way will lead to happier employees, stronger sales and more modern and resilient regional economies.”
Charlie Anderson, head of ICT at Fife Council, added: “Giving people the ability to work from anywhere means local communities can retain their digitally skilled workers, and even attract new skills and investment to help bolster our local economy and society.
“This is essential to re-energising areas outside of larger cities such as town, villages and more rural communities.”
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