Employers and workers gain time from homeworking

Everyone is winning from homeworking during the pandemic according to new research. Employers are seeing their workers do an extra 38 minutes per day. Employees gain even more – an additional 46 minutes of time for themselves.

The extra time is available because most workers have not been commuting through lockdown. That’s allowed many working dads extra time with their families. Survey findings suggest most have enjoyed it and don’t want to give it up as the government urges people to return to workplaces.

Atlas Cloud conducted the survey into working hours. They say businesses would gain almost an entire month’s worth of additional work per employee if home working was to be extended for a year. While employees would pick up the equivalent of 25.7 days of annual leave. For every day of homeworking they offer businesses can gain an additional four working days every year, per employee.

Social interaction

Nevertheless, the survey shows only a quarter of office workers want to work from home full time. And more than a fifth say the lack of social interaction they experienced while working from home had affected their mental health. Around three-quarters of people want the ability to regularly mix and match working from the office and from home.

Almost half of respondents said they had used their additional leisure time to catch up on sleep. 46% saying they had used it to spend more time with family. 43% used it to do more exercise.

The ability to work remotely is now a preference for almost half (49%) of jobseekers. Before lockdown just 32% of workers said it was important to them. Of those employees who didn’t work from home prior to lockdown, 58% said this was due to restrictive company policies.

Technology

Less than a quarter of workers say their employer has confirmed where they will work long-term. However nine in ten respondents said the coronavirus crisis has proven they can work effectively from home. Almost two thirds of employees said their companies invested in new or updated technology to help enable digital transformation since the start of lockdown.

Pete Watson, CEO of Atlas Cloud, said: “This research clearly demonstrates that the vast majority of people want to return to the office in some capacity, but to pursue a hybrid working model where they can work more flexibly. Companies need to think about how to achieve this, particularly when it comes to implementing digital transformation, if they want to avoid being left behind as the country moves into this new phase of hybrid working.”

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