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173% increase in number of people working from home in 2022 - CSO

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Census 2022 recorded a 173% increase in the number of people working mainly from home compared to 2016 as the Covid pandemic forced many workers to stay away from offices, new details of the census released by the Central Statistics Office show.

The CSO figures also reveal that almost a third of workers - 750,000 people - worked from home at least one day a week.

Dublin city saw the largest growth in the number of people working mainly from home, up by nearly 30,000 workers compared with 2016.

Among people who worked from home, 15% did so for one day a week, 17% for two days, 16% for three days, 10% for four days and 33% for five or more days a week.

The CSO figures also reveal that the average commute to work has been increasing over time, rising from 26.6 minutes in 2011 to 29.1 minutes in 2022.

Counties bordering Dublin had the longest commutes, with people in Meath having the highest average journey time of 35 minutes. This was followed by counties Kildare, Wicklow and Fingal, all with an average journey time of 34 minutes.

The shortest commutes were in Galway city, with an average journey time of 23 minutes.

A total of 3.2 million people were travelling to school, work, or college in Census 2022, up 8% since 2016. The car remained the most popular mode of transport for workers and school-goers.

Counties Galway (71%) and Roscommon (70%) had the highest proportion of people driving to work.

Dublin and Galway cities had the highest proportion of people who walked to work at 18% and 16%, while Dublin city also had the highest proportion of commuters cycling to work (10%).

Figures show that Swords in Fingal had the highest proportion of commuters travelling by bus at 18% while Dingle-Daingean in Kerry at 44% and Clones in Monaghan at 32% had the highest proportion of commuters walking to work.

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Census 2022 showed that a total of 2.3 million people were at work during that year, a 16% increase compared with Census 2016 with every county showing employment growth.

Men accounted for 1.2 million of the working population and women for 1.1 million, the CSO said.

While the number of people looking after the home/family continued to decline, down 11% over the six years, the number of retired people rose to nearly 658,000, or by 21% from 2016.

The CSO said the number of female retirees was up by 27% to more than 342,000 compared with a 15% increase for males to nearly 316,000.

Census 2022 marked the first time there were more female retirees than male.

The figures show that the number of workers in all counties rose with the largest percentage increase seen in Longford, up 30% since 2016. Kerry had the smallest growth with 10% more people at work in 2022.

Meanwhile, the number of people who were unemployed fell by 34% since 2016 to more than 176,000, however, the number of people seeking their first job grew by 10% to nearly 35,000.

Today's CSO figures also show that the highest labour force participation rate was in Fingal at 66% while Donegal and Mayo had the lowest at 57% each.

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Tom Curran, Head of Wellbeing with Lockton People Solutions, said the figures on working from home were "staggering" with the number of people who recorded that they worked mainly from home rising from 94,955 workers in 2016 to 259,467 in 2022.

"The working from home trend was the biggest change to hit the world of work in decades, perhaps centuries. It has completely transformed how people work," Mr Curran said.

He said the Census data tallies with results from a nationwide survey of workers the company conducted earlier this year which found that more than 35% would choose a job that allowed them to work from home over a higher-paid role.

Results from the same survey showed that most 69% of people believe that workers should be entitled to work from home - if their duties can be performed remotely.

Women in particular believe workers should have the right to work from home, with 76% stating this compared to 63% of men.

"Working from home allows people to organise their work around their life and work when they're at their most productive. This in turn should allow people to work alongside the challenges which life throws their way, to work for longer, and to pursue multiple careers if they wish," Mr Curran said.

"It will also open up opportunities for people who may have struggled to participate in the workforce before," he added.

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