Post the great pandemic shake-up, how are people working – at home and abroad?

As the dust settled on lockdowns, it became evident to Kildare County Council that many of their staff had re-evaluated their work-life balance and welcomed the introduction of blended working.

Sonya Kavanagh, chief executive of Kildare County Council says the authority found a proactive approach was necessary to finding a way forward with workers. She says: “Our Blended Working Policy has been in place on a permanent basis since the pandemic. This is facilitated proactively by the organisation, and typically staff can avail of up to two days’ remote working per week, which allows a good balance and provides for necessary collaboration and team-working in the office and the opportunity to work remotely on suitable tasks.

“Staff have generally welcomed the return to the office and find that the balance with remote and office-based working is the most suitable model,” she says.

At the other end of the country, Daniel McChrystal, senior economic development officer in Donegal County Council, has seen similar adjustments.

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“We have seen a massive increase in the hybrid working model. Most commonly, personnel seem to have a two day/three day split between [working] at home and in the office. We have seen that work which can be done at home or in isolation is done on the ‘at home’ days, allowing for the in-office and in-person collaborative work to be much more productive and efficient,” says McChrystal.

In fact, Donegal seems to have benefited in particular from this shift towards remote working, with people either returning to Donegal or choosing Donegal as their destination of choice to work remotely from, demonstrating its unique offering for those who seek to balance an excellent quality of life with the desire for a productive and progressive career.

“The ‘sense of place’ that is Donegal is more than an idyll,” he says.

The importance of the home

Much of what is continuing to drive the desire for hybrid or remote work is the attractiveness of available homes. Hans Dubois, senior research manager at Eurofound, the EU Agency for the improvement of living and working conditions, points to recent research undertaken by the agency.

The report found, among its longer-term impacts, the pandemic has contributed to increased telework, and with it the importance of the “teleworkability” of the home. The more hours people worked from home in the month prior to the e-survey, the greater the increase in importance of certain aspects of the home.

“This was the case for a good internet connection, sufficient space in the home and access to a balcony, terrace or garden. Interestingly, a higher number of hours worked from home was related to a significant increase in the perceived importance of all local area aspects, in particular good access to walking/cycling routes (especially for people with difficulties making ends meet) and good air quality, but also for quiet surroundings, good access to green areas and good access to public transport, and least notably (but still significantly), for access to supermarkets,” says Dubois.

Anomalies in employment issues

Overall, good access to public transport and to walking/cycling routes became much more important for women (15 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, compared with 9 per cent for both for men), and for people with great difficulties making ends meet (19 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, compared with 8 per cent and 12 per cent among people making ends meet more easily).

Ireland has jumped from lying in the middle of the pack for remote working to near the top, which might be explained by the predominance of service-based jobs

—  John Hurley, Eurofound

John Hurley, colleague and senior research manager at Eurofound, points to anomalies in the employment issues overall. After the 2008 financial crash he explains that it took almost 10 years for employment to reach pre-crash levels. However, since the pandemic, it has bounded back in a matter of months.

”I’ve been studying the labour market for most of my adult life, and certainly for the last 20 years it is the first time that the issue of the labour shortages is of higher priority in terms of public policy than unemployment.

“In addition, remote working post-pandemic did not reduce as might be expected, instead it continued to rise in 2021. Ireland has also jumped from lying in the middle of the pack for remote working to near the top, which might be explained by the predominance of service-based jobs in the country,” says Hurley.

Working abroad

Some have chosen to move abroad, rather than work remotely in Ireland. Sean Mernagh, a case handler for the European Commission, is based in Brussels. While studying law and French at UCD, he took part in an Erasmus exchange to study in Paris. This gave him a taste for international living.

A direct employee of the European Commission, he and his Irish girlfriend are enjoying life in Brussels. Housing is considerably cheaper, as is, for instance, alcohol, but groceries are more expensive.

“A big plus also is that we are on mainland Europe and can drive to most places. A few weekends ago we went skiing in Germany, which was only a four-hour drive away.”

Having worked remotely back in Ireland for nine months as a result of lockdowns, Mernagh is very happy to be in Brussels and in the office.

“It’s nice to interact with my colleagues,” he says.

In a note of caution, Aebhric McGibney, director of public and international affairs at Dublin Chamber of Commerce, points out an at-times unexpected consequence of remote working. She advises that if a job can be done remotely, for example in Donegal, it might also be able to be done remotely from another country, and by another person.

“In those cases, the employer might benefit from lower costs and wages. In the same way, the opportunity for someone to live in Lisbon on a London wage is not a given,” says McGibney.

However, Dublin remains a focal point for job creation. More than three in four Dublin-based employers have not changed the size of their office footprint since Q3 2021.

In the long-term, it may be just a case of the noted observation by French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr’s: “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” (the more it changes, the more it stays the same).