WORK FROM YOUR HOME!
Varadkar wants remote working to become ‘new normal’
WORKING from home will become the ‘new normal’ for most office workers, Leo Varadkar announced yesterday.
The new Business Minister has revealed some radical proposals that will overhaul our employment and family lives for the future.
And he appeared to be pushing an open door, with a number of surveys revealing that both employers and workers are up for the seismic social changes involved.
Mr Varadkar kicked off the move with the launch of a public consultation. ‘Covid-19 disrupted our working lives and threw many of us into working from home or remotely for the very first time,’ the Tánaiste said yesterday.
‘We learned quickly what was possible by using modern technology,’ he added.
‘It’s been an accelerator of change that was coming and while we all want to be free to return to our workplaces, we don’t want to go back to things exactly as they were. The Government wants
remote working and home working to become part of the new normal. If done right, the benefits will be huge: reduced business costs, better work-life balance, especially for parents, less traffic, fewer greenhouse gas emissions and time saved on the commute.’
The Tánaiste who is also Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said that there are also ‘real benefits’ for rural Ireland, with many more people able to work for big companies and public bodies from home or from remote working hubs.
‘This will mean an increased local spend. And, of course, it’s not an “either or”. For some a mix of working remotely and from their base will become the new way of doing things.
‘I encourage employers and employees alike to engage with this consultation and make their views known on the guidance they need to fully embrace remote work,’ he said.
The move comes as other aspects of society are already adjusting to remote working.
University of Limerick has announced that students will be expected to learn off site from September, as almost all lectures will be delivered online.
Most students will be allowed on campus for just one week a month after the new academic year gets under way, it said.
However, there will be some face-to-face teaching for labs and tutorials during the days that students are allowed on campus.
Meanwhile, UCD has stated that it expects most undergraduate students will be in classrooms for around 40% to 60% of their normal college schedule.
NUI Maynooth says the majority of its students will be on campus for about half of their normal timetable.
And the initial results of a survey from NUI Galway, in May, have suggested that many people want to continue working remotely after the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions have passed.
The study of 7,241 people from different industries and sectors across Ireland found that 83% want to remain working remotely in the future.
Business organisation said the ‘new normal’ will see more employees work remotely in the future. And more than 60% of companies have also said they are looking at ways to help make the remote working a permanent option for their employees. A recent study by PwC revealed that 61% of companies are considering how to make remote working a permanent option for those staff who can avail of it. The latest information also indicates that small businesses are also keen to have their staff working remotely. A survey of over 400 of
Ireland’s small companies, right across the country, found that over 80% of those that employ staff that are not necessary on site, are now open to employees working from home when the health crisis passes and their business is up and running again.
It revealed that before the pandemic 41% of business with such employees offered remote working to their staff.
Now 60% would offer the option and 22% are considering it. Michael Scanlan, Technical Manager at TaxAssist Accountants, said that the landscape of the stereotypical workplace is now changing dramatically,
‘In the past there was a fear among small business owners that remote working would reduce productivity or relinquish some control over their enterprise,’ the expert said.
‘While it was more common for larger companies to have work from home policies these results confirm that employers in the SME sector are now following suit and are open to the possibility of remote working for the long term.
Colleges to have remote lectures
Now businesses back the idea