Demand for remote working is set to continue beyond the Government's easing of Covid-19 restrictions, according to jobs site Indeed, with searches for jobs in Ireland permitting remote work six times higher in December 2021 than before the pandemic.
Employers appear to be looking to cater to this trend, with posts for remote roles four times higher than they were pre-pandemic, and 12.5 per cent of job advertisements in the Republic containing remote terms in the job description, compared to just 2.9 per cent in 2019.
Indeed said it believed this would become a longer-term trend, despite the shift in Government pandemic advice.
The company studied job postings in 20 OECD countries and found the Irish site had the second-highest growth in remote postings. Countries with stricter virus rules – such as Italy, Spain and the UK – tended to see the bigger growth than countries with more limited restrictions, such as Japan and New Zealand.
While remote work job opportunities have increased across all categories, it has been particularly notable in areas such as IT and software development, Indeed said.
Separately, the latest edition of Indeed’s monthly job search survey, which questioned 1,500 Irish jobseekers in December, found mixed perspectives in relation to how working life changed in 2021, a year in which most respondents were affected by the working-from-home phenomenon.
Work-life balance
While 49 per cent said there had been no change to their work-life balance, 26 per cent theirs was better now and 24 per cent said it had worsened.
Some 63 per cent said their relationships with their co-workers were “the same”, while 17 per cent said they had worsened and 20 per cent said they had improved.
"Ireland has seen one of the biggest increases in remote work according to this study, and it is a practice likely to persist even as the pandemic threat recedes," said Indeed economist Jack Kennedy.
“Real thought needs to be given to welcoming new employees and spreading corporate culture in a hybrid environment where some staff are in the office and some at home,” he said.
“Secondly, management and leadership style will need to evolve to best transmit knowledge and motivate teams.”
