Press Releases
EUR 472 million lost to the Irish economy last year because of inability to work from home
Published 19 May, 2011
Nearly 2 million days lost by office workers for reasons such as snow and ice disruption. Almost two thirds of office workers have little or no access to their office communication tools remotely.
- Nearly 2 million days lost by office workers in Ireland for reasons such as snow and ice disruption
- Almost two thirds (65%) of office workers have limited or no access to their office communications tools remotely
- More than twice as many male workers (49%) than female workers (24%) have full remote access to all their office computing and communications tools
- Office workers in the Rest of Leinster (excl. Dublin) were more likely to have missed work (66%) than other regions - Dublin (45%), Munster (39%) Connaught/Ulster (38%)
- 79% use unified communications (UC) tools for their personal lives
- Benefits of using UC for home working are more flexibility (57%), better work/life balance (42%), improved personal productivity (42%), employer can save money (33%)
- Only 4% could see no benefits of having UC for remote work
- In the office, 42% have UC available to communicate with colleagues and customers
Dublin, Ireland, 19th May, 2011: Damovo Ireland today published the results of a national survey of 526 office workers on office and remote working communications in Ireland. The survey was commissioned by Damovo and conducted in April 2011 by independent research firm, Empathy Research.
The results of the survey indicate that €472 million** was lost to Irish businesses and the economy over the last year as a result of lost productivity when office workers could not make it to work for reasons beyond their control. The survey did not include days missed due to personal illness and holidays.
With some obvious factors causing people to be unable to get to their office over the last year - such as snow and ice disruption and school closures - the survey reveals that 1.88 million working days* were lost to the Irish economy.
The survey revealed that 35 - 44 year olds (55%) were most likely to have missed time from work, with those aged over 45 years (40%) least likely to have missed work for reasons beyond their control. It is likely that those in the 35 - 44 year age bracket have young children and may have needed to stay at home due to a child illness or school closures during bad weather.
Looking at the regions, office workers in the Rest of Leinster (excl. Dublin) were much more likely to have taken time off (66%) than other regions, with Dublin (45%), Munster (39%) and Connuaght/Ulster (38%). This is probably due to the snow and ice disruption in the East of Ireland including the commuter counties near Dublin. The wider range of public transport options in Dublin is likely to have helped more people make it into the office. There was very little difference between males missing work (46%) and females (49%). In total, almost half (48%) of those surveyed couldn't make it to work at some stage in the last year, excluding holidays and personal illness, with 3.4 days being the average number of days missed.
Almost two thirds (65%) of office workers have limited or no access to their office computing and communications tools from outside the office, i.e. restricted access to company network, work email, work voicemail etc.
More than twice as many males (49%) than females (24%) surveyed have full remote access to the office. While this could point to a gender divide for technology usage, it's interesting to note that there is an even split between males (79%) and females (78%) who use unified communications (UC) tools such as Skype and Facebook instant messaging in their personal lives to stay in contact with friends and family.
In the office, 42% of workers have UC tools available to communicate with colleagues and customers. These include instant messaging (online chat), presence information (online availability status), video conferencing and real-time data sharing. This compares with just 24% of office workers in a similar Damovo survey conducted in 2008.
The perceived primary benefits of having UC tools to help communicate and carry out work when outside the office are more flexibility (57%), better work/life balance (42%), improved personal productivity (34%) and employer can save money (33%). Only 4% of respondents could see no benefits.
Mary Bradshaw, managing director, Damovo Ireland, comments on the results:
"We were astounded to find that almost two million working days were lost last year because people could not get to the office due to a wide range of factors such as snow, swine flu and even the ash cloud. This cost the economy almost half a billion euro in lost productivity.
"In the vast majority of cases these losses could have been avoided. Unified communications tools give workers the ability and flexibility to work effectively remotely. These simple, cost effective tools can protect businesses against the disruption caused when people cannot travel to the office.
Our survey highlights a number of interesting statistics such as the fact that twice the number of males than females have full remote access to the office. This raises some compelling questions as to why this is the case. We know it is not due to lack of technical capability - the research proves that just as many females as males are using UC tools for personal use. This opens up an interesting debate. Do men prefer to work from home more than women? Or is the explanation to be found in the types of roles that women perform and their personal preference on how they choose to work. This divide between the genders is certainly fascinating and probably warrants further study.
"It is quite likely that we will face similar disruptions in the future whereby people, for reasons outside of their control, will be unable to attend the office for work. We believe that it is the responsibility of businesses to better prepare themselves for such events and mitigate against incurring future losses by equipping their employees with the tools to work remotely. Work should be something that you do, rather than a place you go to."
- Methodology:
- Damovo commissioned Empathy Research to conduct an online survey of office workers regarding business communications and remote working
- The survey was completed online by participants from the Republic of Ireland
- Sample size: 526 adults
- The sample was targeted evenly by region, age and gender and participants were screened to ensure they worked in an office
- Fieldwork dates: 11th April - 18th April 2011
- Calculations:
* Total no. of days that office workers could not get to work:
- - Most recent 2010 CSO figures show that there is 1,163,300 office workers (managers, professionals, associate professionals, clerical, sales and service employees)
- - Survey results show 48% of respondents missed time from work last year for reasons beyond their control, with an average of 3.37 days for those unable to get to the office
- - Total no. of days that people could not get to work is 1,163,300 x 3.37 days x 48% (who missed work)= 1,887, 338 days
** Total cost to the economy of lost productivity:
- - Most recent 2010 CSO figures show that the total GDP in Ireland is €164,614M and the total Irish workforce is 1,859,500. The average GDP raised per worker annually is €88,526. The average GDP raised per worker per day (based on 230 working days per year) is €385
- - Total cost to the economy is 1,887,338 x €385 x 65% (% of respondents who couldn't work productively from outside the office) = €472,306M
