Dubs are most likely to keep distance on job

Study rejects ‘one-size’ recovery plan

Greater potential in affluent towns

GARDAÍ, doctors and firefighters are among those with the most difficult jobs for social distancing, a major University College Cork report has found.

It also found that the social distancing measures and remote working potential favours occupations located in Dublin and the provincial cities, which have better broadband and higher education levels.

It found that the current economic crisis ‘is likely to play out differently across places’ and said that the Government should not adopt a ‘one-size fits all’ approach to economic recovery.

The study – Covid-19, Occupational Social Distancing and Remote Working Potential in Ireland by Dr Frank Crowley and Dr Justin Doran – uses occupational data and economic indices to examine what occupations have the most potential to adhere to social distancing.

Jobs found to have the least social distancing potential include protective service occupations (including gardaí and the fire service), transport and mobile machine drivers and health professionals.

Jobs easiest for social distancing include secretarial and related occupations, science, research, engineering and technology professionals and customer service all of which do not require close contact with other people.

Those jobs easiest for remote working include teaching, customer service occupations and business, media and public service.

‘We generate two indices which capture the potential impact of Covid-19 through identifying firstly, the occupations which may be most impacted by social distancing procedures and secondly the occupations which have the least scope for remote working. This is accomplished using occupational level data from a global database,’ said Dr Doran.

The report found that the potential for social distancing and remote work favours occupations located in the greater Dublin region and provincial city regions. More affluent, larger, more densely populated, better-educated and better broadband-provisioned towns have more occupations with greater potential for social distancing and remote working.

It said that the Government ‘needs to consider carefully how local and regional policy settings could be redesigned in order to better accommodate the impacts of increased social distancing and remote working on society over the short term and how it can help deeply affected workers and businesses recover in the medium to longer term.’