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NEARLY ONE-THIRD of workers would change jobs, even if it meant taking a pay cut, if their future remote working preferences were not facilitated, a new survey has found.
The third annual National Remote Working Survey found that 30% of respondents said that they would change jobs, with 33% indicating they may change jobs even if it meant a pay cut, if they couldn’t work remotely.
27% said they were open to the possibility of changing jobs, even if it means less promotion opportunities
The survey, conducted by researchers from the Whitaker Institute at NUI Galway and the Western Development Commission, gathered responses from more than 8,400 employees in late April and early May, on their current experience of remote working.
Overall, the survey found that 95% of respondents believe working remotely makes life easier.
Of those who could work remotely, 52% were currently working hybrid, 40% were working fully remotely while only 8% were fully on-site.
Nearly half of respondents (49%) said they clock more hours while working remotely, compared to working on-site, with 45% saying they work the same hours, and 6% saying they work fewer hours.
30% of respondents said they spent 30 minutes to an hour of the time they saved commuting working. 27% spent up to half an hour, and 14% spent 1 to 1.5 hours.
The top five activities on which respondents spent the time saved on commuting were household duties (e.g. cleaning, shopping, DIY), exercise, working on their main job, relaxing and caring responsibilities.
49% of respondents said they thought remote working had no impact on promotion opportunities, with 33% not yet knowing the impact. 9% said they believe there is a positive impact, while 9% believe there is a negative impact on promotion opportunities.
Professor Alma McCarthy, Head of the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics, NUI Galway, said this year’s survey contained a new module asking if remote working was a key factor in changing employer and career decision making.
“It is interesting to see that of those who changed employer since the outbreak of Covid-19, nearly half – 47% – indicated that remote working was a key factor in their decision to change employer,” she said.
Half of respondents said their organisation has confirmed how they will work in the future, while 22% are in a trial phase.
Of the 50% whose organisations have confirmed their future working patterns, 61% of respondents said that they will work hybrid, 30% will work completely remotely and only 9% will work fully on-site.
Tomás Ó Síocháin, chief executive of the Western Development Commission, said the findings indicate that Irish workers expect to continue working remotely either all of the time or to find a balance in line with their lifestyle.
“Leaders will now be challenged to look at ways of supporting their staff and find that balance to avoid retention issues,” he said.
Minister for Rural and Community Affairs Heather Humphreys TD said the survey results will be used by the Government to help inform future decisions on remote working.
“The Government’s Rural Development Policy, Our Rural Future, clearly recognises the vital role that remote working can play in achieving balanced regional development. At a time when there are labour market shortages, remote working can help companies attract and retain talent,” she said.
“So much excellent work has been done in the last few years to support remote workers and employers – these survey results will build on that work, providing up-to-date information on remote working experience of employees. I have no doubt that this will help enable us to make the right decisions at this crucial time.”
Can’t wait for all of the inflexible employers complain that nobody wants to work.
And before the “whatabout” crowd turns up obviously this only applies to jobs that CAN be done remotely. A lot of people have outed themselves as absolutely dense since this whole debate began.
@Liam Edward Harris: But you have to realise that we live in a society whereby if “I” can’t have something then nobody should have it.
But, but, but….I work in a shop so what about me…..
@Sal Paradise: it’s hilarious that that lot will always talk about entitlement when really their issue is that they don’t want anyone to have what they can’t have.
The worst third. Good test for employers to sort the wheat from the chaff.
@Michael Drennan: Oh look. A boomer saying boomer things.
@Michael Drennan: “nobody wants to work anymore” the cry of the owner who thinks people owe him their labour.
@Michael Drennan: I work for a large MNC where remote working was the norm prior to covid and is now standard across every part of the business. We’ve had record results and our customers are happy. Your views are old fashioned, out dated and belong firmly in the past. You can either keep up or get left behind but remote working is the future and the world is moving on with or without you.
@Michael Drennan: Tell that to our fully remote team Michael, Employee satisfaction and work life balance up, customer survey 99% satisfaction rate… and on and on it goes…
@Michael Drennan: Glad I don’t work for you with an arcane backwards attitude like that mate. And I wouldn’t want someone like you working for me.
You just don’t get it – most likely because you yourself don’t have innate attributes like trustworthiness and responsibility that most people WFH possess.
@Michael Drennan: When Yahoo! shut down their London development office some relocated to California, some left. One person would have been retained and left exactly where they were untouched by the reorg. That person was working remotely from Ireland, but had already accepted a better offer.
How do I know this? Simple I was that person.
Still waiting for all these know it alls to set up their own companies to facilitate people working from home since its such a good business model.
If you want to work for someone then you should be prepared to work where they say the job is. Unless it’s not stated clearly in the advert that’s its office based or the terms change after you take the job, that of course would be different. There should be no “right” to work from home, it’s a bonus if your employer agrees to it and in my experience its not the best from a company point of view, less social interaction means less cross pollination of ideas, less buy in to the culture of the business and leads to isolation and boredom for workers.
@Anthony Guinnessy: this is a survey about people leaving their jobs for ones that allow them to work from home.
It’s fine if companies want to force employees to be physically present and you’re right if people aren’t happy with that they should leave. And if the opportunity presents itself they will apparently. When this happens and businesses that insist on a physical presence find it harder to hire than those who don’t I hope they don’t cry about people not wanting to work when in fact it’s just that people aren’t willing to sell their labour for what those businesses are offering. If I go from shop to shop demanding that they sell me a Mars bar for 40c and they refuse that’s not people not wanting to sell Mars bars. That’s me not making a good enough offer.
@Anthony Guinnessy: So you haven’t been able to make remote working successful for you which is unfortunate but completely on you. As a model it’s working successfully in businesses across the globe, some of whom have been doing it for years. Remote working is here to stay but I’m sure there will always be office jobs for people like yourself who’ve been unable to adapt or who just need the office environment to be able to work effectively.
@Liam Edward Harris: I’d 100% agree with you. It’s up to employers to make it attractive for people to work for them. That’s not just monetary rewards, the business needs a culture where people enjoy working and feel a part of something, where the employees feel fulfilled from a personal development point of view and loafs of other rewards including potentially working from home. If the employee doesn’t like the place they are working or the terms on offer then they can walk.
I guess my point was more against this constant push to make it a right for employees to be able to wfh. Its hard enough to run a business and make enough money to employ people as it is without making it tougher.
@Declan Doherty: Looks like some people don’t think it is the future https://www.androidpolice.com/google-contractors-work-from-home-privileges-employees/
@John: They’ll haemorrhage employees and they won’t be able to backfill the heads they lose. Working conditions will deteriorate for those who stay and they in turn will start to leave. It’s a vicious cycle that could sink a business if not dealt with.
@John: For a long time Google provided free meals, gym, laundry services, games etc in the off8ce with a view to having people practically live in the office.
@Anthony Guinnessy: There are a number of well funded startups that are pure remote with all their infrastructure rented in cloud data centres. No offices, no facilities, no tangible assets., just intellectual property and people.
I’ve been working from home for the last 17 years with four employers. Getting started took my wife getting cancer while I was working abroad. Since then it has been a given every time I changed job.
I have been wfh just a couple of months now, I work a lot harder at home, less distractions. I will soon be working a couple of days in the office. I don’t mind but I personally would prefer it if anyone that could wfh be allowed to as it would make my commute a lot easier. Parking would be a breeze, this would be the case for everyone who can’t physically wfh. It would be a positive move for everyone. Remember what the traffic is like when the kids are off, it would be similar
Not a car on the road where I live
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