Assessing preference and potential for working from anywhere: A spatial index for Ireland

Abstract

Workforce flexibility in regard to the time and location of work can offer many advantages for individuals, businesses, communities and countries. Whilst neither universally viable nor uniformly valuable, there are those who may have a preference for such flexibility and there is certainly untapped positive potential to be explored across multiple impact categories. The COVID 19 pandemic has improved acceptability from both employee and employer perspectives and delivered a global ‘crash course’ in remote working. The varied potentials to work from anywhere, as well as differences in associated impact outcomes point to the value of targeted supports and careful planning. The Working from Anywhere Index (WFAI) offers a transferable fine scale spatial methodology to identify both the preferences and potential for working from anywhere. The value for policy support is demonstrated through application to a case country, Ireland, where illustrative scenarios explore the role of broadband provision, the placement of remote working hubs and the effect of shifts in employment types on the preferences and potential for working from anywhere. Impact analysis indicates that the scale of annual benefits for a plausible ‘2 day a week’ national working from anywhere scenario are substantial and offer the potential to save in the region of 1 bn car commuting kilometres per annum with associated societal benefits for emissions reduction and individual time savings.