Flexible working’s biggest barrier is meetings, not tech
Almost half of New Zealanders say they work from home as well as from their workplace, with the quality of the internet a barrier for only about one in five people, according to a survey commissioned by InternetNZ.
The survey found overall contentment with the internet was high and increasing: 90 per cent of those surveyed said the benefits of the internet outweighed the negatives, up from 89 per cent in 2017 and 88 per cent in 2016.
Ninety-four per cent of people voiced concern about the security of their personal information, when prompted, and 92 per cent that very young children could access inappropriate content.
But fewer than a third of respondents said they were ‘‘very concerned’’ about either issue.
Of the 49 per cent who said they worked from home, more than half said they would like to do so more often.
The two biggest obstacles they identified were a requirement for face-to-face meetings or their employers not offering flexible working options.
The quality of internet connections or their computers were less common concerns.
More than half of internet users admitted to not backing up their data and more than twothirds said they had not set up twofactor authentication on any of their accounts.
InternetNZ outreach director Andrew Cushen said those were numbers that needed to be improved.
‘‘Ninety-four per cent of people are concerned about the security of personal data but many are not taking appropriate steps to protect themselves online.’’
InternetNZ is a non-profit society that is largely funded though an annual levy on about 700,000 ‘‘.nz’’ internet addresses.
Its survey was conducted by pollster Colman Brunton.