A huge majority of people want to continue working from home after the coronavirus pandemic, a new survey claims.
Over 80% of workers across a wide range of sectors said they did not want a full return to their workplaces because home offered freedom from the daily commute, money saving on travel costs and greater flexibility.
The survey, from the Whitaker Institute at NUI Galway and the Western Development Commission (WDC), showed 83% were keen to slog it out at home.
Within this, 12% indicated they would like to work remotely on a daily basis, 42% several times a week and 29% several times a month.
However, 16% do not want to continue working from their kitchen tables or bedrooms when the lockdown ends.
The top three benefits of working remotely included no traffic or long commutes, reduced costs of travelling to work and greater flexibility as to how to manage the working day.
But workers also faced a number of challenges, including the task of trying to juggle parenting and work responsibilities.
Other issues include not being able to switch off from work, difficulties in communicating and collaborating with colleagues and poor physical workspace.
The survey was led by Prof Alma McCarthy, Prof Alan Ahearne and Dr Katerina Bohle-Carbonell at NUI Galway, and Tomás Ó Síocháin and Deirdre Frost at WDC.
Prof Alma McCarthy said: “The future of work post-COVID-19 is really interesting.
“The current crisis provides an opportunity for organisations and managers to rethink how we work.”
