Calgary Herald

Most Canadians working from home expect it to continue after pandemic

- AMANDA STEPHENSON astephenso­n@postmedia.com twitter.com/amandamste­ph

Only one-third of Canadians currently working from home due to COVID -19 expect to return to the office full time once the pandemic threat is over, a new poll reveals.

The study, from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute, appears to indicate long-term changes to the way we work could be one result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Among those working from home (just under one-third of Canada’s adult population), only 36 per cent say they will likely go back to their place of work when COVID-19 concerns subside.

According to the poll, most who work remotely anticipate splitting time between their workplace and home, while one-in-five (20 per cent) say they will remain primarily at home.

The Angus Reid Institute also asked workers who have lost hours or been laid off (28 per cent of Canadian adults who had been working when the pandemic was declared) if they anticipate returning to that same job with the same number of hours in the future. Among this group, two-in-five say it’s either a doubtful prospect (29 per cent) or that the job is gone forever (nine per cent). This represents a two-fold increase since the end of March.

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