61% of people expect to work from home, post-Coronavirus

82% of respondents to the survey agreed that working from home can improve work-life balance. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

A majority of workers expect to work from home more frequently when the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

A survey carried out for eir Business and TechCentral also found 63% of people had only worked remotely one day a week or less before the pandemic.

Most people reported that they had a positive experience with working from home.

82% of respondents agreed that working from home can improve work-life balance.

51% said they have varied their working hours since the restrictions were implemented.

74% reported the same or increased levels of efficiency, with 64% finding it the same or easier to contact and interact with the people they regularly do business with.

The survey had 230 respondents, with 85% of them being IT professionals in mid to senior-level positions. 94% of respondents were now working from home.

Respondents reported using a broad selection of applications to conduct video calls.

67% said they use Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business, 39% use Zoom, 26% use Google G Suite or Hangouts and 21% use Cisco Webex.

70% of respondents have a broadband speed over 50Mbps.

However, it was not all good news, with 66% of respondents reporting they found it difficult to avoid distractions and maintain focus.

A follow-up survey will be conducted in autumn of 2020.

"Prior to the global spread of the coronavirus, working from home was not the norm in Ireland. Once we emerge from this current situation, we can expect to see a changed work environment where many businesses adopt a hybrid model of home and office working," said Martin Wells, Managing Director of eir Business.

"The challenge will be to blend the benefits of home working with the in-person contact that is still so important to many businesses."