Remote work Forbes Advisor survey

A recent Forbes Advisor survey showed that, of 1,100 respondents, 63% of worked remotely either all or some of the time.

UK remote and hybrid work ONS overview

• In 2019, prior to the Covid pandemic, just 4.7% of UK employees worked from home (WISERD)
• By April 2020, 46.6% of employees did at least part of their job from home (ONS)
• 86% of those did so specifically because of the pandemic (ONS)
• In 2022, a quarter (25%) of UK employees worked from home at least some of the time (ONS)
• 13% were working from home all of the time in 2022 (ONS)

Worldwide, 91% of workers have a “positive” view of remote working (Buffer)

Fully remote vs office vs hybrid working in the UK

• Between 22 May and 2 June 2024, working arrangements among UK workers were as follows (ONS):
  • Only worked from home: 14% (compares to 38% in June 2020)
  • Travelled to work and worked from home: 26%

• Distribution of days worked from home over a week (ONS):
  • Monday: 58%
  • Tuesday: 67%
  • Wednesday: 64%
  • Thursday: 63%
  • Friday: 65%
  • Saturday: 6%
  • Sunday: 7%

Employee and employer attitudes towards working from home (ONS)

• In May 2022, remote and hybrid workers reported the following advantages to home working:

In May 2022, remote and hybrid workers reported the following disadvantages to home working:

• In 2021, businesses gave the following reasons for why they planned to further implement home working as permanent business model (ONS):
  • Improved staff wellbeing: 79.9%
  • Reduced overheads: 49.1%
  • Increased productivity: 48.3%
  • Ability to recruit from a wider pool: 34.7%
  • Reduced sickness levels: 27.3%
  • Ability to better match jobs with skills: 17.4%
  • Not sure: 5.2%

Characteristics of remote workers (ONS)

• Remote work arrangements broken down by employee age:

• Remote work arrangement broken down by employee education level:
  • Degree or equivalent:
    • Home or hybrid working: 67%
    • Commuting only: 33%
  • Below degree level:
    • Home or hybrid working: 32%
    • Commuting only: 68%
  • Other qualification:
    • Home or hybrid working: 31%
    • Commuting only: 69%

• Remote work arrangements broken down by employee annual salary band:
  • Up to £10,000:
    • Home or hybrid working: 14%
    • Commuting only: 86%
  • £10,000 – £15,000
    • Home or hybrid working: 24%
    • Commuting only: 76%
  • £15,000 – £20,000
    • Home or hybrid working: 29%
    • Commuting only: 71%
  • £20,000 – £30,000
    • Home or hybrid working: 36%
    • Commuting only: 64%
  • £30,000 – £40,000
    • Home or hybrid working: 49%
    • Commuting only: 51%
  • £40,000 – £50,000
    • Home or hybrid working: 60%
    • Commuting only: 40%
  • £50,000 or more:
    • Home or hybrid working: 80%
    • Commuting only: 20%

Remote working since the first UK Covid lockdown:

Out-of-hours work habits for remote workers

• Out-of-hours work completed by employees based on working arrangement:
  • Replying to work messages or emails
    • Office-based: 47%
    • Hybrid: 49%
    • Fully remote: 48%
  • Completing administrative work:
    • Office-based: 33%
    • Hybrid: 30%
    • Fully remote: 37%
  • Made work related phone calls:
    • Office-based: 19%
    • Hybrid: 27%
    • Fully remote: 27%
  • Taken work device on holiday
    • Office-based: 25%
    • Hybrid: 22%
    • Fully remote: 24%
  • Continued to work as normal:
    • Office-based: 17%
    • Hybrid: 17%
    • Fully remote: 23%

• Reasons why remote and hybrid workers complete work-related tasks out of hours:
  • I feel a responsibility to reply when a colleague messages me:
    • Hybrid: 26%
    • Fully remote: 22%
  • I have certain responsibilities that need to be carried out by me:
    • Hybrid: 16%
    • Fully remote: 13%
  • An urgent request came through:
    • Hybrid: 27%
    • Fully remote: 23%
  • I have time-sensitive deadlines to meet:
    • Hybrid: 19%
    • Fully remote: 31%
  • I get stressed if I miss things while being off work:
    • Hybrid: 21%
    • Fully remote: 14%

Top tasks carried out better in person vs remote (Currys)

Methodology

Consumer attitudes towards small businesses data was collected by Opinium on behalf of Forbes Advisor from a nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK adults between 3 and 7 November 2023.