What will 2025 mean for remote working?
Video on RTE investigates.
Work & Technology Correspondent
Big companies such as Amazon, Dell and IBM have told their remote workers in recent months that they need to start returning to the office for either some or all of the working week.
It has sparked concerns about the future of remote work with many employers increasing the number of on-site days for staff.
Other companies are happy to continue with their pandemic-era working arrangements.
Elaine Snowden is a designer with Irish company StoryToys, which makes educational apps and computer games for children.
In her home office, Ms Snowden uses screens, editing tools and design software to work with characters from Disney, Marvel, Lego and Peppa Pig.
She brought the equipment home when the pandemic hit and has not returned to the office since.
Ms Snowden said: “I find it is just easier to focus when I am by myself.
“You just get to work and you don’t have people dropping by your desk.
“I think we are as productive if not more so, as we were pre-pandemic. I think some companies like to see everyone in the office and don’t think they are working unless they can see them.
“But there is a great level of trust in our company and it is great to work for someone who understands you can get everything done and you don’t have to be under their eye all the time,” she added.
Emmet O’Neill is the CEO of StoryToys and said he has no plans to start asking staff to return to the office.
“Because we’ve built the business during this remote period, if I was to bring everyone back in, I wouldn’t be set up for it,” Mr O’Neill said.
“I think a lot of the reasons why companies are pulling everyone back into the office is down to real estate leases that they otherwise can’t justify,” he added.
Research from business group Ibec shows that while few employers are demanding workers come back into the office five days a week, there has been an increase in companies requiring staff to be on-site for some of the week.
“We are seeing a lot of employers changing how their remote and hybrid working policies are put into effect,” said Maeve McElwee, Executive Director of Employer Relations at Ibec.
“About 26% of employers said to us this year that they are looking at introducing more mandatory attendance on certain days.”
“Lots of employers like to have people on-site so that it makes sense for people to be there, and they are not coming into an office that is sparsely populated, and that there are actually people to engage with,” Ms McElwee said.
“There are also important reasons about training and mentoring, but also the social aspect of work like the chat that happens on the corridor and the wellbeing that goes with that,” she added.
Recent workplace surveys have shown that a high proportion of employees would be willing to quit a job rather than lose their remote working arrangements.
Vicky Day is a remote worker living in Waterford. When the Kildare-based company she worked for tried to increase her number of in-office days, she handed in her notice.
“The decision for me came down to the fact that I would not be able to maintain the level of attendance in the office that they wanted,” Ms Day said.
“There would have been no practical public transport options for me and so I have to make the very difficult decision to hand in my notice and find another job.
“In my personal situation, we were entirely reliant on my source of income, so to decide to hand in my notice was a huge decision to make and the whole situation just made me feel quite vulnerable,” she added.
Employees have a right to request remote or flexible working and since March they have been able to take a case to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) if they feel that request was not handled properly.
Tracy Keogh is the co-founder and chair of campaign group Grow Remote.
She said the next government needs to go beyond the WRC process when it comes to protecting and promoting remote work.
“What we need to have is one division of government or an agency that is solely responsible for the number of remote jobs created in Ireland using things like incentive programmes and funding,” Ms Keogh said.
“There is no other form of employment that could be as impactful for the most rural places. It is something that could completely transform our regional communities,” she added.
In its predictions for 2025, hiring platform IrishJobs is forecasting that hybrid working is here to stay.
“Despite some high-profile return-to-the-office mandates by large multinationals this year, IrishJobs data shows that the proportion of hybrid working vacancies has remained relatively stable, fluctuating between 11.2% and 12.4% over the past six quarters,” said Sam Dooley, Country Director of The Stepstone Group for Ireland and responsible for IrishJobs.
“This stabilisation indicates that hybrid working is set to remain a key feature of the labour market in Ireland next year.
“IrishJobs research shows that nearly half of jobseekers would be willing to turn down opportunities that do not provide hybrid or fully remote working options,” Mr Dooley said.
In contrast, however, he believes that the future of fully remote homeworking in Ireland remains to be determined, with the number of those vacancies falling to its lowest level in four years in October.
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