Assessing effects of hybrid working on productivity a particular challenge in Ireland, report finds

There is no clear-cut evidence about the impact of remote and hybrid employment arrangements on productivity in the workplace, a forthcoming study for the Government by the National Economic and Social Council is expected to conclude.

However, it is likely to say the challenge no longer is whether organisations should embrace remote and hybrid working, but how they can do so in a way that creates sustainable value for employers, employees and society.

The report will maintain that about a third of the labour force now has some form of remote or hybrid working. Some 530,000 people were estimated this year to “usually” work from home.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic about 14 per cent of employees worked from home in some capacity. In 2026 about 35 per cent of the labour force worked either usually or sometimes from home.

The report is likely to maintain that the expansion of remote and hybrid working has not contributed to more balanced regional development

The report on the evolution and impact of remote and hybrid working in Ireland was sought by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and has not yet been published.

[ Demand for office space in Dublin is weak, largely because remote working is expandingOpens in new window ]

However, the draft document, seen by The Irish Times, maintains that the relationship between remote and hybrid working and organisational and employee productivity is “complex, multifaceted and highly context dependent”.

Remote and hybrid working arrangements “generate a combination of gains and trade-offs that vary according to job type, organisational practices, management capability and the nature of the tasks being performed”.

“A consistent finding is that employees tend to report higher or at least equivalent levels of personal productivity when working remotely or in hybrid settings due to greater autonomy, reduced commuting time, better work-life balance and improved capacity for concentrated work,” it says.

“Employer perspectives, while mixed, have increasingly shifted towards a broadly neutral or positive assessment, particularly where organisations have gained experience in implementing these arrangements, adapted their practices and processes and invested in organisational capacity building.”

The draft report says that in Ireland, assessing the relationship between remote and hybrid working and productivity is particularly challenging “because aggregate productivity growth is heavily influenced by a relatively small number of multinational enterprises operating in high-tech sectors”.

Flexible working arrangements are highly popular with employees and pose recruitment and retention difficulties for some employers where these do not exist.

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The draft document says the employers’ body Ibec found 46 per cent of organisations believed it was more challenging to attract and retain talent for on-site roles compared with those that allowed for flexible/remote working.

It says a survey of members of the public service trade union Fórsa found that 69 per cent would consider moving position to maintain or improve their hybrid or fully remote working arrangements.

The report is expected to point to international evidence that employers could generate significant financial savings by optimising office space usage in line with actual attendance patterns by staff.

“An Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service study [in 2020] estimated that, under a scenario involving 20 per cent remote working and a 10 per cent reduction in market rents, firms in Dublin could achieve average rental cost savings of €1,492 per employee annually.

“This same study also indicated that remote working could generate significant cost savings for the exchequer if it was used as an opportunity to either renegotiate or not renew building leases.”

The report is also expected to argue that there is a “strong case for introducing a funding stream to deliver a new generation of multi-service rural hubs, integrating remote working and enterprise facilities with complementary community and essential services in town and village centres”.