Which people are working from home?

Connor IbbetsonData Journalist
April 07, 2020, 10:55 AM GMT+0

With the nation on lock down which Britons are able to work from home?

The past weeks have seen many Britons’ working lives completely up-ended by the coronavirus, with many being told to work to from home – a completely alien concept for some.

YouGov Profiles data shows that 40% of workers (equal to 28% of the general population) think they could do their job from home, compared to 54% (38% of the general population) who think they couldn’t.

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Those who think they can work from home are likely to be younger, with 43% of workers aged between 25 and 39 saying they can work from home, compared to 35% of workers over 55. Men are slightly more likely to say they can (42% of male workers compared to 38% of female).

Does location make a difference?

When it comes to regional differences, nearly half (48%) of London’s workforce say they can complete their work remotely. Close behind are two areas bordering the capital, with 44% of workers in both the East and South East of England saying they capable of getting the day’s work done away from the office.

Around a third of workers in Wales (32%) and the North East (32%) say they can work from home, making them the regions least likely say they could.

Media and IT sectors will continue from home

Brits working in the IT and Telecoms sector are the most likely to now be working at home, with three-quarters (75%) saying they could. Media, marketing, PR and sales is close behind with 73% of workers capable of working remotely, followed by 72% of those employed in the financial sector.

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Key sectors, such as medical and health services, transport and distribution, and retail are among the least likely to be able to work from home. Only 25% of workers in the medical and health sector say they could work at home, compared to 17% of workers in the distribution sector say they could work from home.

Managers are also much more likely to be working from home, within the distribution sector 29% of managers say they could work from home, compared to just 11% of non-managerial workers.

Three in ten (32%) of managers in the medical and health services could work from home, compared to 21% of workers.

Those in the private sector (41%) are also slightly more likely to be able to work from home, compared to 36% of non-managerial workers in the public sector.

Image: Getty

Learn more about YouGov Profiles here