A new report from Cardiff University and the University of Southampton has revealed that nine out of ten employees would like to continue to work from home at least part of the time in the future.
The ‘Homeworking in the UK: Before and during the 2020 lockdown’ report found that as millions of employees transition to remote working positions, productivity has stayed stable and even improved compared to the six months prior.
The result derived from three online surveys from April, May and June 2020, which consisted between 6,000 and 7,000 respondents. For the June survey, 88% of employees who worked from home said they would like to continue doing so for part of the time and 47% wanting remote working to be a more permanent arrangement.
Additionally, the report found that 41% were able to get as much work done while working at home in June, compared to the six months prior.
“What is particularly striking is that many of those who have worked at home during lockdown would like to continue to work in this way, even when social distancing rules do not require them to,” said Professor Alan Felstead, based at Cardiff University and the Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods. “These people are among the most productive, so preventing them from choosing how they work in the future does not make economic sense. Giving employees flexibility on where they work could be extremely beneficial for companies as they attempt to recover from the impact of Covid-19.”
