Pulse Survey - Our Lives Online - Remote Work November 2021

The ‘Our Lives Online’ CSO Pulse Survey was carried out online between Tuesday 2 November and Tuesday 16 November 2021 and was open to anyone aged 18 years and over living in the Republic of Ireland. The online electronic questionnaire was available on the CSO.ie website and on all CSO social media platforms. There were 10,797 responses.

The first publication from this Pulse Survey Our Lives Online: Snapshot of Results was released on 29 November 2021. This is the second publication planned from the series.  

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020) more of our work, education and social lives has moved online. The main purpose of this publication is to give insights into the world of remote work in Ireland. Respondents were asked a series of questions about their working arrangements both currently and in the future and the impacts remote work had on their work-life balance. We hope that this series of publications will provide relevant, timely and insightful data for the public.

This report is a Frontier publication. The results in this report reflect only the responses of those who completed this Pulse survey questionnaire. While results are benchmarked to Irish population totals, the findings cannot be generalised to the entire Irish population, as the people who answered the questionnaire were not chosen at random from the population. Even with this caveat however, we hope that this report provides a valuable insight into remote work in Ireland. See the Background Notes for further details on the survey methodology.

Working Remotely

• Just under one in four (23%) respondents in employment worked remotely at some point before the COVID-19 pandemic but eight in 10 (80%) have worked remotely at some point since. In November 2021, just under two in three (65%) of those in employment were working remotely all or some of the time.
• Of those in employment who can remote work, 88% would like to do so when all pandemic restrictions are removed. Of these, nearly three in 10 (28%) said they would like to do so all the time. Six in 10 (60%) said they would like to work remotely some of the time. The remainder (12%) said they would not like to work remotely in the future.
• Those aged 35 - 44 years were the age group most likely to want to work remotely when pandemic restrictions end, with nine in 10 (90%) saying they would like to work away from their regular workplace in the future. They too were the ones who would most like to work remotely all of the time (32%). Those in employment aged 55 years and older were least likely to want to remote work when all pandemic restrictions are lifted while 16% of them said they would not like to work remotely in the future.
• Of those in employment in the Mid-East Region (Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow) who could work remotely, 93% said they would like to do so in the future after all pandemic restrictions are removed. This figure was lowest at 83% in the South-East Region (Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford). The Midland Region (Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath) had the highest proportion (37%) of those who wanted to work remotely all of the time when pandemic restrictions are lifted in the future.
• More than eight in 10 (85%) of those in employment whose job could be done remotely but who did not work remotely prior to the pandemic said they would like to do so when pandemic restrictions are no longer in place. This proportion increased to 96% for those who did work remotely some of the time and to 97% for those who worked remotely all the time before the pandemic.
• More than nine in 10 (96%) workers who mainly used public transport to get to work prior to the pandemic and who could work remotely would like to do so when pandemic restrictions are no longer in place. This proportion fell to 82% for people who mainly walked to work prior to the pandemic.
• Just under one in 10 (9%) who rated their home broadband as Excellent would not like to work remotely in the future. This figure rose to 15% for those who rated their home broadband as Poor.
• Almost all (97%) workers whose job could be done remotely and whose travel time to work before the pandemic took more than one hour would like to work remotely when pandemic restrictions are removed.
• Almost half (49%) of those in employment who have not worked remotely but whose job could be done remotely would definitely work that way if it were offered to them in their current employment.
• Three in 10 (30%) of those in employment whose job could not be done remotely with their current employer would be definitely (18%) or probably (12%) attracted to a new job that could.
• Just under one quarter (24%) of those in employment whose job could not be done remotely with their current employer and who rated their home broadband as Excellent would definitely be attracted to a job elsewhere that did offer remote-work opportunities. For those who rated their home broadband as Poor, however, this figure dropped to 9%.
• Almost six in 10 (58%) of those not in employment would consider employment if it could be done remotely.
• The highest proportion of people who would consider employment if it could be done remotely are in the 35 - 44 years age group, with the lowest being amongst those aged 55 years and older.
• Three in four (75%) respondents who were Engaged on home duties and almost seven in 10 (69%) of those Unable to work due to longstanding health problems would consider employment if it could be done remotely.
• Those not currently employed with a Level 8 Honours bachelor’s degree or above were more likely to consider employment if it could be done remotely when compared to those with Level 7 or below.

  Work-Life Balance

• Almost three in four (74%) remote workers said they feel they have more time on their hands, because of remote work, to do things they never got the chance to do before the pandemic.
• Those aged 18 to 34 years had the highest proportion (81%) of remote workers with extra time on their hands due to remote work. As age increased the proportion decreased with the oldest age grouping, aged 55 years and older, having just under two-in-three (66%) workers with extra time on their hands.
• The region with the highest proportion of remote workers who felt they had extra time on their hands as a result of working that way was Mid-East (Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow) at 82% and the region with the lowest proportion was Border (Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan and Sligo) at 67%.
• The longer their travel time to work prior to the pandemic (when they worked in their regular workplace), the more likely a person has extra time on their hands, because of remote work, to do things they never got the chance to do before the pandemic. Two-in-three (66%) who travelled up to 30 minutes to get to work before the pandemic said they have more time on their hands now, this rises to 94% for people who travelled for more than 91 minutes.
• Overall, the most popular activity undertaken by remote workers who felt they had extra time on their hands, as a result of working remotely, was Domestic or household tasks. Nearly seven in 10 (69%) chose this activity as one of the things they do now with more women (73%) than men (66%) using their extra time for these tasks.
• Gardening, the choice of just under three in 10 (27%), grew more popular as age increased for both sexes with 56% of males aged 55 years and over choosing this activity.
• Meeting family and friends (53%), Baking (37%), Further education (23%) and Other activities (16%) were activities that decreased in popularity as age increased.
• Nearly four in 10 (38%) of those in employment would consider a house move if they could work remotely. A further 7% said they have already moved because they could work remotely.
• As age increased so too did the likelihood that those in employment would not move house if they could work remotely. In the youngest age group, those aged 18 to 34 years, just over a third (36%) would not consider a house move. This increased to 75% for those aged 55 years and older.
• Almost six in 10 (57%) of those in employment who would consider a house move live in rented accommodation. This compared to just over three in 10 (31%) for those who live in owner-occupied accommodation.
• More than half (55%) of those in employment who do not have children living with them would consider a house move if they could work remotely with some having moved already. The survey results show that as the number of children living with workers increases the proportion of them who would consider a house move decreases.
• Those in employment who live in the South-West Region (Cork and Kerry) and who would consider a house move were most likely to remain in their county after a potential move but those living in the Mid-East Region (Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow) were most likely to move to a different county if they could work remotely
• When asked how their transport behaviour changed on days they attended their workplace compared to days they worked remotely, almost three quarters (74%) said they took less trips by car, three in 10 (30%) took more bicycle trips with almost half (47%) taking more trips on foot.
• Nine in 10 respondents (90%) from the South-East Region (Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford) make less trips by car when working remotely compared to days they are in their workplace. This compares to just under two-in-three (63%) from the Dublin Region.
• Just 3% of respondents whose main mode of transport to get to work prior to the pandemic was a car are making more trips by car on days they remote work. Nearly nine in 10 (86%) are making less trips by car when remote working and they are making more trips by bike and on foot.
• Almost two-in-three (64%) respondents who said their main way of getting to work before the pandemic was on a bike are making less cycling trips now on days they remote work compared to days they are in their workplace with just 15% saying they make more trips by bike.
• Just over one in 10 (13%) respondents from the Border Region (Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan and Sligo) take less trips on foot when working remotely compared to days they work from their regular work location whereas almost six in 10 (57%) say they take more walking trips when remote working.

 Remote Work Hubs

• Of those respondents who were working remotely (November 2021) almost all (98%) were doing so from home. The remainder (2%) were working from a remote work hub, a combination of home and a remote work hub or from an other location.
• When asked from where they would like to work remotely after all pandemic restrictions are lifted more than eight in 10 (82%) said they would like to do so from home. A further 18% said they would work from a remote work hub or a combination of home and a remote work hub.
• Almost one quarter (24%) of those who can work remotely and who want to do so from a remote work hub, or a combination of home and a remote work hub live in rented accommodation. This figure falls to 16% for those whose tenure is owner-occupied.
• The age group most likely to work from a remote work hub or a combination of home and a remote work hub was 18 to 34 years. As age increased so too did the likelihood that remote work would be done only from home.
• Remote workers who rated their home broadband as Fair (23%) or Poor (22%) were more likely to want to work from a remote work hub than those who rated theirs as Excellent (15%).
• Of those who said they would consider using a remote-work hub, 44% said they would travel up to 15 minutes to get to one, with an additional 45% saying they would travel up to double that time.
• Over one in four (26%) from the Border Region (Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan and Sligo) would travel more than 30 minutes to access a remote work hub whereas for those in the Mid-West Region (Clare, Limerick and Tipperary) this figure fell to just 5%.