Remote working - the future?

Certainly, every company that is a producer of physical commodities or needs space to store/organise items to provide a service will delighted to make better productive use of their premises and could expand services/production.

Companies that provide non-physically tangible services (eg insurance etc) will be tied into leases with relatively empty offices. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

Over the Christmas I was talking to the relative who is an insurance risk assessor and he has been involved in a few wfh risk assessments, but says it is still a grey area and depending on how the courts will view cases going forward. Contributory negligence is a factor, so it is incumbent on every employee to maintain their workstation to a safe standard.

Well, you know what I mean; presuming a formal assessment has been made of workstation, keeping it that way. Eg, not moving laptop to the top of the kitchen stove and then trying to claim for a work-related burning injury. 😂

BBC News - Why a wide-scale return to the office is a myth

The CSO have just released the results of a large survey carried out in Nov 2021 on the topic of WFH

Further detail is linked below, go through the "Chapters" on the right of the linked page

Infographic with summary info

Some of the stats

• Nine in 10 (90%) of those aged 35-44 years who could work remotely would like to do so when pandemic restrictions end
• Eight in 10 (80%) of those in employment have worked remotely at some point since the start of the pandemic
• Of those in employment in the Mid-East Region (Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow) who could work remotely, 93% said they would like to do so after all pandemic restrictions are removed
• Three in four (75%) respondents who were engaged on home duties and almost seven in 10 (69%) of those unable to work due to longstanding health problems would consider employment if it could be done remotely
• In the Mid-East Region (Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow) 59% of all those who would consider moving house if they could work remotely would move to a different county unlike those living in the South-West Region (Cork and Kerry) who were most likely to remain in their own county
• Just 3% of remote workers whose main mode of transport to work prior to the pandemic was a car are making more trips by car on days they remote work
• Almost two in 10 workers (18%) would like to work from a remote work hub or a combination of home and a remote work hub when pandemic restrictions end
• Of those in employment who can remote work, 88% would like to do so when all pandemic restrictions are removed. Of these, nearly three in 10 (28%) said they would like to do so all the time. Six in 10 (60%) said they would like to work remotely some of the time. The remainder (12%) said they would not like to work remotely in the future
• Those aged 35 - 44 years were the age group most likely to want to work remotely all the time (32%)
• Just under one in 10 (9%) who rated their home broadband as excellent would not like to work remotely in the future. This figure rose to 15% for those who rated their home broadband as poor
• Almost two-thirds (65%) of those in employment whose job could be done remotely but who have not worked remotely at any point since the pandemic began said they would definitely (49%) or probably (16%) work remotely if the opportunity to do so was available
• Three in 10 (30%) of those in employment whose job could not be done remotely with their current employer would be definitely (18%) or probably (12%) attracted to a new job that could
• Almost six in 10 (58%) of those not in employment would consider taking a job if it could be done remotely
• Gardening, the choice of just under three in 10 (27%) of those who felt they had more time available to them because of working remotely, grew more popular as age increased for both sexes with 56% of males and 38% of females aged 55 years and over choosing this activity.
• Nearly four in 10 (38%) of those in employment would consider a house move if they could work remotely. A further 7% said they have already moved because they could work remotely
• Compared to days they are in their workplace, when those aged 45 – 54 years’ work remotely 73% take less car trips, 34% take more trips on a bicycle and 50% taking more trips on foot

Various news reports on the topic