One in five Brits say they would resign if they couldn’t work from home
A third (33%) of Brits say the Covid pandemic is directly responsible for increasing the amount of time they work from home
34% of home workers claim to have conducted an online meeting while still wearing their PJs
Three-quarters (74%) of journeys into an office or other work place involve using a car as a principal mode of transport
Remote working has become the norm for millions of people since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new research1 from The Green Insurer, which is focused on helping drivers reduce carbon emissions and drive in a more environmentally friendly way. One in three people (33%) say that the viral outbreak led to a permanent increase in the amount of time they spend working remotely with 5% of those saying they now work solely at home as a result.
The profound shift in working patterns brought about by Covid shows no sign of being reversed, with one in five (20%) saying they would resign if their employer announced they could no longer work from home for at least some of the week. A further 43% said they would discuss the matter with their boss or HR department to try and reach a compromise, and 5% say they would seek legal advice. Just 21% would reluctantly accept the request and go back into their place of work. Only 12% of Brits who currently work at home say they would welcome a move back into the office.
The findings reveal that a half (49%) of the population say that they work two or more days a week from home. When not remote working, the modes of transport used by workers to get to their place of work is by car (74%), followed by bus (20%), train (17%), tube or metro (6%) and tram (2%). Fewer than one in five (18%) say that a major part of their journey to work is done on foot.
The ability to work from home has led to some employees admitting that the blurring of professional and personal life has sometimes prompted them to deviate from normal office behaviour, with more than a third (35%) saying they had conducted an online meeting still wearing their pyjamas; three in 10 (30%) admit to doing non-related activities such as shopping or going to the gym; 20% say that they have got up early to send a few emails and then going back to bed and 14% say they have pretended to have a technical problem with WiFi or software to get them out of a task or to give themselves more time. More than two in five (42%) claim not to have done any of these things whilst working at home.
Paul Baxter, CEO, The Green Insurer, said: “As our findings show the pandemic permanently reshaped people’s attitudes toward work, with now many businesses like ourselves offering employees remote or flexible options as standard practice. This shift spells good news for the environment with a substantial decrease in the number of vehicles on the road.
“However, working from home is not feasible for all sectors, including healthcare, manufacturing, education and retail. Employees in these industries are often dependent on their cars to get to their place of work. We launched our car insurance policies with environmentally conscientious drivers in mind. They are particularly attractive to those people who need to drive but who have also got concerns about environmental sustainability and who wish to reduce their personal carbon footprint.”
The Green Insurer has launched car insurance policies that customers can buy direct from its website at www.thegreeninsurer.com and through leading price comparison websites. A customer’s Green Driving Score will be used to calculate their renewal premium and to offer discounts when they renew. Policies are linked to a mobile app, which monitors how customers drive.
Every mile driven by customers will be offset using a range of carbon offset projects which are assessed for their carbon and environmental effectiveness as well as the social impact on the people and communities where they are based.
All customer enquiries to The Green Insurer will be dealt with by humans based in the UK rather than chatbots or overseas call centres.
Up to 70 companies have partnered with The Green Insurer to offer rewards and discounts including ASDA, Tesco, Sainsbury’s Waitrose, Iceland and Morrisons plus retailers Clarks, Harvey Nichols, Halfords, Habitat and Waterstone’s as well as restaurant chains Zizzi, Ask Italian and Café Rouge. On a weekly supermarket shop of £200 a 6% discount would be worth more than £600 a year.
Independent and green offers include eco laundry capsules, eco clothing, refillable natural deodorant, sustainable sunglasses from Coral Eyewear and National Trust membership. The company plans to expand the number of rewards partners and is contacting companies who can also sign up on its website. It will also add other insurance partners in the future and potentially expand the types of policies it offers.
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