Remote workers more 'satisfied' with life, survey finds

Almost four in 10 employees worked remotely at some point during 2021, the CSO said, with full-time workers in large organisations more likely to have worked remotely. File picture: Violeta Stoimenova/iStock

People who have worked from home in the last 12 months reported being more satisfied with their job and with their life than those who had not, according to new statistics published on Tuesday by the Central Statistics Office.

Almost four in 10 employees worked remotely at some point during 2021, the CSO said, with full-time workers in large organisations more likely to have worked remotely.

Four in ten employees worked remotely at some point during 2021https://t.co/Zez8wEv43L #CSOIreland #Ireland #WorkingFromHome #WFH #RemoteWorking #Business #Labour pic.twitter.com/Blx4ai2Dde

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) April 26, 2022

Nearly half (48.9%) of full-time staff in organisations of 100 people or mote had worked remotely at some point during the past year, compared to just under one third (31.3%) of full-time workers in organisations of fewer than 20 people.

More than one-third (34.6%) of employees who were remote working at some stage of the pandemic were no longer working from home. For example, when this survey was conducted in the third quarter of 2021, 82% of employees in the education sector had returned to the workplace and were no longer working remotely.

How long someone had been with their employer seemed to impact their return to the workplace, according to the CSO.

The CSO said: “A greater proportion of those with longer service had not worked remotely at all in the four weeks prior to interview — 44.5% of those with 11 to 18 years’ service, and over four in 10 (42.9%) of those with very long service (19 years or more), compared with less than three in 10 (29.4%) of those who worked with their current employer for a relatively short time period (less than five years).” 

Part-time workers who had worked remotely at some point during the pandemic were more likely to have fully returned to the workplace than their full-time equivalents — at 63.6% compared to 30.6% of full-time employees.

CSO statistician Maureen Delamere said: “Of those working remotely, more than four in 10 (41%) had worked off-site most of the previous four weeks (17 days or more). Of these, nearly four in five (79%) worked completely from home, compared with just over 2% pre Covid19.

“The most commonly used remote working space was the home. More than three-quarters (76%) of those remote working in the four weeks prior to interview were home working either completely or as a blend of remote working spaces.” 

Employees who worked 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.