Personal and Work-Life Balance 2021 - Remote Working

As society started to reopen as 2021 progressed working patterns began to change. Some workers continued to work completely remotely, while some worked a mix of remotely and on-site. Respondents who had availed of remote working in the previous twelve months, were asked how many days in the four weeks prior to interview that they worked remotely.

Of those who had availed of remote working in the twelve months prior to interview, over four in ten (40.9%) had worked remotely most of the previous four weeks (17 days or more). Of these nearly four in five (78.9%) worked completed from home, compared with just over 2% pre COVID-19. See Tables 4.1 and 4.4 and Figure 4.1.

The outbreak of COVID-19 made remote working a necessity for many employees across the country, but nearly eight in ten (78.9%) of these had not worked remotely pre COVID-19. This was particularly so in the Education sector where 96.8% of workers did not work remotely in a typical 4 week period pre COVID-19. Most sectors had some degree of remote working in a typical 4 week period pre COVID-19. Nearly three in ten (28.8%) workers in the Information and communication sector (who were remote working to some degree during COVID-19) had worked remotely 1 to 3 days in a typical 4 week period pre COVID-19. More than one in five (23.9%) of workers in the Financial, insurance and real estate sector that worked remotely in Q3 2021, had worked remotely for 1 to 3 days per 4 week pre COVID-19. This compares with one on six (16.5%) in the Professional, scientific, and technical sector. See Table 4.1.

Of employees who were remote working at some stage during the COVID-19 pandemic, over one third (34.6%) had not worked remotely at all in the four weeks prior to interview. Some may not have been working during these four weeks, for example if they were availing of shorter working year or were on school holidays. Over eight in ten (82%) employees in the Education sector had not worked remotely in the four weeks prior to interview, compared with 4% of workers in Financial, insurance and real estate sector. See Table 4.1.

All employees surveyed in the Information and communication sector (who had worked remotely at some point in the previous twelve months), had worked off-site in the previous four weeks, and almost eight in ten (78.9%) of these worked off-site for most (17 days or more) of the previous month. See Table 4.1.

Analysis of the survey data by broad occupational group shows that over four in ten (42.9%) Professionals, who had been working remotely, had returned completely to the workplace in Quarter 3 2021, compared with less than one in eight (13.2%) Managers, directors, and senior officials. Over half (52.7%) of Managers, directors and senior officials who were remote working, worked remotely for most (17 days or more) of their working time, compared with just over one third (34.8%) in the Administrative and secretarial occupation group. See Table 4.1.

With employees returning to the workplace, either fully or in a blended working arrangement, the size of the organisation in which a person works, seems to impact on the extent to which they continue to remote work. In Quarter 3 2021, over six in ten (61.0%) employees in organisations of 100 or more staff had continued to work remotely for most (17 days or more) of their working time, nearly three times that of workers in smaller organisations of less than 20 people. See Table 4.2 and Figure 4.2.

Part-time workers who had worked remotely at some point during the pandemic, were now twice as likely as their full-time equivalents to have returned fully to the workplace – 63.6% compared with just over three in ten (30.6%) full-time employees. See Table 4.2.

Analysis of the data by household composition shows that nearly six in ten (56.4%) workers living alone (who had worked remotely during COVID-19) worked remotely for most (17 days or more) of the four weeks prior to interview, compared with just over one third (31.3%) of workers with no children, living with three or more adults. See Table 4.3.

Of workers in households with 2 adults and dependent children, almost four in ten (39.8%) had availed of remote working most of the time in the previous 4 weeks, compared with less than one in ten (9.9%) who worked remotely for just 1 to 3 days in the previous four weeks. Pre COVID-19, more than one in seven (13.5%) had worked remotely for 1 to 3 days in a typical four-week period. See Table 4.3.

Of workers who had worked remotely for most of the last four weeks (17 days or more), most (78.9%) had worked entirely at home, while less than one fifth (18.0%) worked mostly from home with some office/hub/travel. By comparison, for workers who worked remotely for a minimum number of days (1 to 3 days) in the four weeks prior to interview, almost four in ten (39%) had a typical blended work pattern of mostly office with some home/hub/travel. See Table 4.4 and Figure 4.3.

Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction with their job and with their life as a whole, on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is 'not satisfied at all' and 10 is 'completely satisfied'. Workers who were working mostly from home with a mix of office, hub or travel were most satisfied with both their job and life as a whole. The majority (94.2%) were satisfied/very satisfied with their life, marginally greater than those who remote worked completely from home (93.6%). For those who worked mostly in their workplace with some home working and/or hub/travel, their life satisfaction rating was slightly less (91.7%). See Table 4.5.