New survey shows different groups love different benefits of remote work in the UK.
The major reasons why people love working from home are fairly well-known by now. They want to save money, spend less time commuting, have more flexibility and have better work-life balance.
RemoteWorker.co.uk has also looked into some of the more unconventional reasons Brits love remote working.
It turns out that what people love most about remote work varies in a patterned way between different demographics. And, now, new data from financial services provider Legal & General has helped to narrow those preferences down.
What do UK workers love most about remote work?
Legal & General commissioned a survey of over 2,000 full-time workers across the United Kingdom to explore the ways remote and hybrid work has changed over the course of the pandemic, and where it stands now.
Here’s what they found.
Overall preferences
Men most love saving money when they work from home. (Photo by Gary Barnes on Pexels)
The top 4 benefits UK workers love most about working from home are:
- To cut out commuting time (73%)
- To save money (72%)
- For more flexibility (71%)
- For fewer distractions (50%)
Gender differences
It’s no surprise that women tend to prefer working from home more than men do, for several reasons.
The survey also found that women most love not having to commute to office, thereby saving time in the day. For men, they most love working from home to save money.
Age differences
Young workers, under age 45, prefer working at home more than workers over 55 do.
However, older workers love cutting out commute time when they work remotely. Over 80% of the older respondents said they value this remote work benefit the most.
Younger employees were not as likely to rank this as their most loved benefit, but an increasing number of them said the rising cost of living is making them begin to appreciate it more.
Location differences
Younger workers most love saving time on the commute when they work from home. (Photo by Alexander Suhorucov on Pexels)
Although Manchester was officially crowned as the UK city “most conducive” to remote work, residents of the South West said they most like the flexibility that working from home gives them.
More than 80% of residents said this was the biggest appeal of remote work for them, whereas only 61% of Greater London residents said the same.
However, people who live in Greater London place greater value on cutting out commute time, with 73% saying this is the biggest appeal of remote work for them.
General preferences
Legal & General found that just 4% of the UK’s workers are allowed to work fully remotely every working day. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, however, as most respondents said they prefer hybrid work over fully remote work or over working in person.
Although, WFH options still came out on top in the end — 60% of respondents said they would quit or change their role if they had to go back to the office full-time.
Find the latest remote jobs in the UK via RemoteWorker.co.uk.
