Can this be right – a quarter of workers are fully remote working?

Seems high, doesn’t it, that figure?

Almost a quarter of Irish workers are fully remote, according to new research from Leitrim County Council.

The study shows that 61% of millennials (25-35-year-olds) are considering a move to another part of Ireland.

Over half of remote workers reported a very positive impact on their work-life balance and 85% of respondents said remote work had improved their productivity.

The research, which was conducted by Bounce, interviewed 1,000 people and found that 60% of them believe that working remotely has improved their ability to switch off after work.

I can see the appeal. And for rural areas the prospect of people working there rather than having to migrate to cities makes a lot of sense. 

Colm McGrath, President of the Carrick-on-Shannon Chamber of Commerce, said Leitrim has seen an increase in the number of people moving to the county.

“With the increased cost of living, it is no surprise to read that employees are moving across the country,” Mr McGrath said.

It’s remarkable isn’t it that one of the main impacts of the pandemic is this change in work practices – not for all, of course. Many jobs aren’t amenable to remote working. But if in twenty years this new sort of approach to work is a norm that’ll be something. 

Another report on much the same topic on RTÉ notes that:

Over half of employers are allowing most of their staff to work in a hybrid capacity, new research shows.

The study from CIPD Ireland, the professional body for HR and Learning and Development, reveals that of those allowing hybrid working, a third require employees to work on-site two days per week and a third require them to work on-site three days per week.

And:

47% said the majority of employees were working fully on-site, while 12% said the majority of employees were working fully remote.

“Unfortunately some workplaces are lagging behind both a worker demand for long term change and the legal requirements that are being introduced,” said Mary Connaughton, Director of CIPD Ireland.

“This could be down to a delayed realisation that hybrid and flexible working really are here to stay.

And:

Today’s research shows that over a quarter of employers have not yet created a policy on remote and hybrid working.

And the piece notes although nearly 70% of workplaces use hybrid and remote working to attract workers only a quarter of those have this in contracts. Yikes. That’s going to cause problems moving forward.