Dublin workers among most likely to support working from home, research finds

A strong majority of Dublin workers polled in a recent survey said they support the practice of working from home.

A survey carried out by employee benefit and pension specialists Lockton Ireland polled 700 workers nationwide, and 78% of those polled in Dublin said they would support working from home if the tasks and duties of the job could be carried out remotely.

The survey comes as An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar looks to publish a bill that would give workers the right to ask their employer to work from home, with the employer able to deny the request if they can come up with “reasonable grounds” to deny the request.

Further findings from the survey found 44% of people aged 25-34 polled would opt for the higher salary if they had a choice between a job with a higher salary and a lower-paid WFH job.

This figure stands in contrast to 22% of those in the 35-44 age bracket, which the research possibly pointing towards people in that age bracket have young families, so their priorities have changed in terms of what they need from their job, making them more likely to choose the WFH option.

Commenting on the findings, Tom Curran, Head of Wellbeing with Lockton Ireland said “our research shows just how important working-from-home (WFH) has become to so many people – and within such a short timeframe too.”

“The WFH trend was the biggest change to hit the world of work in decades, perhaps centuries. New Census 2022 data just released reports that 750,000 people in Ireland, which is a third of workers work from home for at least some part of their week. This movement has completely transformed how people work.”

“However, with any new departure in the working landscape comes challenges and pitfalls that both employers and employees need to be aware of. While WFH gives employees a greater degree of flexibility, it can also blur the lines between home and work life – this is something that all parties need to be cognisant of,” he added.