Most Irish marketers would prefer not to return to the traditional ways of working before the pandemic with 73 per cent of most men and women across career stages men opting for a combination of workplace and home working in the future, a new survey by Alternatives indicates. The study involved interviews with 295 Irish marketers.
One in seven respondents said they would prefer not to go back to office-based work at all. Two in three people in the sector said they felt more productive working from home, although almost one in four do not believe it suits their role. Women more than men find home working suits them more and they believe it is more likely to be more productive.
Some 18 per cent of women and one in 10 men surveyed – or 15 per cent overall – said they only wished to work remotely and would be happy not to return to their workplace at all. Women were more likely to want to work lesser hours or days in future. The survey found that the Covid-19 pandemic has triggered widespread pay and budget cuts.
Stress
An increased workload has also become an issue for four in 10 respondents, with personal stress a key concern. Some 40 per cent have also seen a drop in their remuneration so far this year. Around 16 per cent expect to return to their pre-Covid place of work by January 2021, while 40 per cent anticipate a return by the spring of next year.
Only six per cent think this will not happen until 2022, and five per cent believe their business will never go back. While most executives were not missing the commute and almost half reported a better work-life balance, the difficulties posed by remote working were also evident. About half missed the personal interaction with teams and clients.
Sandra Lawler (above), Alternatives, said many Irish marketers were working harder than ever despite changing roles, reduced pay, working with remote teams and often lesser budgets. Over half said that budgets had been cut, with the trend most prevalent in the drinks, hotels, tourism and travel, FMCG, media and publishing sectors.
