The Future of WFH in Ireland

On 27 March 2020 all non-essential workers in the Republic of Ireland were ordered to WFH for two weeks. Offices throughout the country emptied as workers stuffed the contents of their desks into hold-alls and handbags. Some grabbed their laptops and bundled up their cables.

Others headed home empty-handed, unable (or unauthorised) to cart off their monitors and desktop computers. Some (let’s call them the early adopters) were already at home and just never went back to the office.

Not everyone was ready to hit the ground running. For many people, the only option was to sit and wait for further orders. When the orders came, they were from the government. Stay at home. Stay off the streets. Wash your hands.

No one was going back to the office any time soon.

And with that came the colossal task of reconfiguring our IT infrastructure. VPN, IP config, remote log-in from home, software authorisation, ‘Have you tried turning it off and on again?” and so on. (We can only imagine the fun in the war rooms of the global giants as ICT staff were put on overtime and begged to make it all happen.)

Soon (after a quick wipe down) equipment was being shipped from offices to home addresses – handed through the windows of our homes by stressed looking people wearing blue rubber gloves. That or people were simply asked, respectfully, to use their own kit.

The Success of WFH

The amazing thing is, it worked.

The biggest shift in working patterns since the mobilisation of the world for a state of war appears to have passed off without a hitch. (The only hitch was the pandemic itself.) Yes, we had uncertainty and a lot of unexpected dips and hoops along the ride, but from an organisational point of view, the success of the great experiment in work from home is almost beyond question.

Even better, we were being told that productivity was at an all-time high. As we Zoomed, clicked, chatted and swiped we somehow got more work done than ever before.

Then came whispers of a permanent change.

Word on the empty street was that WFH was here for good. Some companies were openly bragging about it – with the US media in particular tripping over itself to bring good news stories of the chance of a lifetime to pass the rest of it at home.

WFH Government Reports

Even the Irish Government appeared to be embracing the idea.

In reality, the push to get people working from home and in remote hubs predates the full impact of the pandemic. The first major government paper on the topic was released when COVID-19 was still on the horizon. (It is borderline conspiracy to assume it was written as part of a warning of things to come.)

The paper, called Remote Work in Ireland, was released on 6 December 2019 as part of an initiative called Future Jobs Ireland 2019. See: https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/Publications/Publication-files/Remote-Work-in-Ireland.pdf

Since then there have been a number of updates – including a report published on 15 January 2021 called Making Remote Work: National Remote Work Strategy. See: https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/Publications/Making-Remote-Work.html The outcome is proposed legislation that makes work from home, not so much a right in itself, but something that you have the right to request.

Crucially the legislation will give companies the right to refuse.

Hopefully, the end result will go some way towards decentralising our economy, whilst empowering people to live outside the ever-expanding circle of an unaffordable commuter zone.

Different Models of WFH

This is to be achieved by creating a crop of remote working hubs and an office workforce that can be working to one of three models. The first is ‘In the office and that’s it’. The second ‘In the office, sometimes.’ The third is ‘At home (if we let you)’.

Be warned. It is unlikely that the legislation will grant massive powers of appeal to anyone that finds their request to work from home has been declined.

The most recent paper on the subject is called Report on the submissions received from the Consultation on Right to Request Remote Working. You can read that here: https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/Publications/Report-on-submissions-Consultation-on-Right-to-Request-Remote-Working.html

Author Bio

Among other things, Gavan Stockdale has a background in teaching and writing. He lives in County Cork but spent many years in Italy and Switzerland. His interests include the impact of technology on human well-being and the potential to improve our quality of life by embracing a more balanced combination of the old and the new.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavanstockdale/