37% of Munster workers say poor broadband is affecting their productivity
To Workers Never Are Of Once Work Lifted Again Restrictions Want Remotely 7%
More than a third (37%) of Munster workers believe poor broadband infrastructure is having a negative impact on their productivity when working from home, according to a new survey by telecommunications provider Pure Telecom. Nationally, the figure rose to 53% of respondents.
Despite this, there's still a desire for flexibility when it comes to remote working once coronavirus restrictions are lifted.
28% of Munster workers said they would like the flexibility to “occasionally” work remotely, while 34% would like the flexibility to work remotely “all of the time.” Just one in 14 (7%) never want to work remotely again once restrictions are lifted.
However, just 28% of respondents said they believe their employer will give more flexibility to work from home, while 18% do not believe their employer will provide more flexibility than previously.
Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher said thousands of people who "could work, and should be working from home" will not be able to unless the Government scales up the rollout of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) "significantly."
The Fianna Fáil MEP said he and his neighbours "battle it out daily" for the limited bandwidth in the area, despite living around four miles from St. Patrick’s Street in the centre of Cork City.
“We have been told by engineers scoping out the area for the NBP that if we are lucky we might be connected to fibre-optic broadband by December 2021 - a full year away."
“I know the NBP is a key priority for the new government, but I firmly believe that it must be rolled out with even greater urgency. There is a social and economic imperative to ensuring that those who can and want to work from home more are facilitated to do so," he said.
Commenting on the findings, CEO of Pure Telecom, Paul Connell, said: “While the remote working phenomenon seems to have been broadly welcomed by respondents nationwide, our survey also highlighted some inherent pain points, most notably, broadband issues that hurt worker productivity.”
“Honing in on Munster, with 37% of respondents citing broadband issues as a productivity constraint, I think it’s in everyone’s interests – employers and employees alike – that the accessibility of high-speed broadband is extended so workers can maintain their regular cadence of productivity, irrespective of where they’re working from."