As a previous post has indicated, the Covid crisis has given new impetus to working from home.
Subsequent findings confirm its increasing popularity. According to UGov (13/05) more than 4 in 10 of the pre-crisis workforce are exclusively working from home (38%), with another 8% now doing so some of the time. Prior to the crisis, only 7% of workers say they worked from home the whole time, with an additional 20% saying they did so on occasion. Other surveys show that 60% would like to continue working this way, a third expect to do so for the majority of the week, while over half expect employers to give home working serious consideration.
Nevertheless, almost a quarter say they are not working from home at all, reflecting the type of work somebody does, but also major class differences. Managerial, professional and administrative jobs are more easily done from home, but many others – often low paid employees, risk exposure by continuing to go to their workplaces. According to UGov 53% ABC1 households, say they are now working from home full time. This figure is just 22% in C2DE households, four in ten workers from C2DE homes (40%) say they are not working from home at all. The further down the occupational scale the less likely you are to be working from home. Workers under 25 are also less likely to be.
But if these zoomie jobs point to a better future for some, the Covid crisis may have devastating consequences for many of the 9 million furloughed workers in zombie jobs . In the five largest European countries, it’s estimated that 9 million workers or 20% of those currently enrolled in job protection schemes face delayed unemployment when state funding is withdrawn. Concentrated in particular sectors, they are also those where younger workers are over represented, approaching 8% of all UK employment is in this category. Up to 2 million jobs could eventually be lost in the hospitality sector alone.
Education, Economy and Society 