• The vast majority of employees (85%) who have worked from home during lockdown want to continue more often than before or on a permanent basis
• A third of employees say they have found working from home during COVID-19 ‘enjoyable’ while just 12% found it not enjoyable
• Those who want to work from home in the future want to do so three days per week on average
• Responses likely reflect both the time and money people have saved by not travelling into the office every day
Tom Selby, senior analyst at AJ Bell, comments:
“After Boris Johnson was forced to perform a hasty retreat on getting people back into the office, it appears the working from home genie is now well and truly out of the bottle.
“Over 8-in-10 people who have been able to work from home during the first six months of lockdown appear intent on continuing to do so once restrictions are lifted. In fact, on average most people want to work from home three days a week.
“There are various reasons why this might be the case. Millions of people have found themselves better off financially during lockdown, in part because they no longer have to pay costs associated with travelling to work. For those who are better off, the average saving during the last six months has been over £2,500.
“Seven-in-ten of those who have been better off during lockdown say their main saving has been on everyday expenses like not driving or going out, while over a third (37%) have saved money on commuting.
“Many have also been able to free up hours of time a week by dodging the daily drive or train into work, so it is no surprise there is little appetite to return to pre-lockdown normalities.”
Not good news for everyone
“Although for those able to work from home there is clearly overwhelming demand to continue, there are many jobs – often lower paid and less secure – where this simply isn’t an option.
“A permanent shift to working from home also presents a huge challenge to city centres which rely heavily on commuter cash to pay the bills.
“Furthermore, it is apparent that while some are better off currently as a result of lockdown, we are yet to see the impact of the Government’s furlough scheme being removed. When it comes to job losses and the resultant impact on people’s finances, unfortunately the worst is almost certainly yet to come.”
