Covid-19: Working from home in Wales

The Welsh Government has announced it has a long-term ambition to see around 30% of Welsh workers working from or near home, even after the threat of Covid-19 has diminished. It follows a report from WISERD, the Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods, on homeworking before and during the lockdown.

The research, by Alan Felstead at Cardiff University and Darja Reuschke at the University of Southampton, using the Understanding Society Covid-19 survey, found that:

Homeworking had been slowly increasing before lockdown – in 1981, 1.5% of employed people said they worked mainly at home, and this had trebled to 4.7% in 2019.
In January/February 2020, 5.7% of workers said they worked exclusively at home. In lockdown, this rose dramatically and suddenly to 43.1% in April 2020.

The surge in homeworking was experienced most strongly by the highest paid, the better qualified, the higher skilled and those living in London and the South East. Initially, it took its toll on mental health, but this recovered as people got used to working at home, or moved back to the office when restrictions eased.

The enormous shift to homeworking did not appear to have a significant effect on productivity, and almost nine in ten (88.2%) of people who worked at home said they would like it to continue to some extent.

Shortly after the report was published, the Welsh Government announced that it “wants to give workers across Wales more flexibility to work remotely and believes this has the potential to drive regeneration and economic activity in communities.”

It is now exploring the possibility of a network of remote working hubs based in communities, within walking and cycling distance of people’s homes, which would offer a choice “beyond a simple home/office split”. The hubs could be used by public, private and third-sector employees, and “encourage new partnerships between Welsh Government, local government, industry, and others”.

Homeworking in the UK: Before and During the 2020 Lockdown