(Dreamstime)

By David Opinko

80% of new at-home workers want to keep working at home post-pandemic

Apr 5, 2021 | 2:25 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the ways in which many people do their jobs, and some would actually prefer that it stay that way.

In February 2021, Stats Canada reported that about 3.1 million Canadians were working from home temporarily in response to the pandemic. For this study, they are focusing on employees who usually worked outside of the home pre-pandemic but work all or most of their hours at home now.

Among those who are new to at-home work, 80 per cent indicated that they would like to spend at least half of their hours in their homes once the pandemic is over.

That includes 41 per cent who want to work half of their time at home and the other half outside the home, and 39 per cent who would like to stay home all or most of the time.

The main reason for this is productivity.

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90 per cent of all new teleworkers say they are at least as productive working at home compared to their usual place of business.

Stats Canada says 58 per cent reported accomplishing the same amount of tasks per hour while 32 per cent were more productive.

This was seen most often in fields like public administration, health care, and social assistance.

Only 10 per cent were able to get less done.

Some of the more common barriers to productivity in the home include a lack of interaction with co-workers, having to care for children or other family members, and accessing work-related information or devices.

Over half of teachers surveyed preferred working most or all of their hours outside the home. For all fields of work, this sentiment was expressed by just 18 per cent, meaning teachers were about three times the average.