Many British Columbians want to keep working from home post-COVID-19, poll finds

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Do you prefer working from home during this pandemic? It appears many British Columbians want the change to be permanent even when life gets back to normal.

Mario Canseco with Research Co. says a new poll suggests people aren’t in a rush to get back into the office.

“There was an expectation that people would be clamoring to be going back to the office and, essentially, have the same life we had back in 2019. The numbers haven’t really supported that. Thirty-three per cent of British Columbians who have worked from home believe they will be able to keep doing this once or twice a week when the pandemic ends,” he said.

Another 18 per cent of those asked in the poll expect they will be able to work from home three or four times a week, while 20 per cent believe they can do it five days a week.

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The poll suggests many British Columbians expect fewer in-person meetings (47 per cent) or less business travel (44 per cent) even after the pandemic is behind us. It also finds half of those who are currently employed think their companies will continue to hold virtual staff meetings.

Canseco says many people are even considering finding another job, if they have to start going back into the office.

“The biggest difference that we have here is the willingness from younger British Columbians to switch jobs if they are not able to work from home. We have 66 per cent of them who say that they would be likely to switch to a different job that can be performed from home,” he said.

However, most employers haven’t informed employees of plans around a return to work, or whether a continuation of working from home is an option.

The results of this poll are based on an online study conducted on March 8 and March 9, 2021 among 700 adults who work in B.C. Research Co. says the data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error is +/- 3.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.