Research from professional services firm Deloitte shows Irish office staff were based more at home compared to many other countries, even before the Government announced a return to working from home last week to combat fast-rising incidence of Covid-19.
Researchers for Deloitte’s State of the Consumer survey, which tracks attitudes among consumers in 19 countries, asked people in late October how long they spend working from home.
The global average was 2.7 days per week, but Irish respondents were working from home an average of more than 3.5 days per week, despite a phased return to the office from late September.
The monthly research of 1,000 Irish people also found that 77 per cent felt safe going to the shops when the survey was conducted in the fourth week of October, while 67 per cent felt safe in restaurants but just less than half felt that way about in-person events.
Just 20 per cent of Irish respondents felt that technology, such as Zoom virtual meetings, had replaced their need for business travel.
Confidence
Irish respondents showed greater confidence about travel generally compared to other nations, with 49 per cent confident taking a flight and 67 per cent confident about staying in a hotel, compared to the global average of 44 per cent and 58 per cent respectively. About 51 per cent of Irish respondents stated at the end of October that they planned to travel to a hotel over the next three months.
Irish consumers, however, were more concerned than others internationally about the potential for inflation, with 74 per cent here showing concern, compared to 68 per cent on average across all 19 nations.
In Ireland, 54 per cent of respondents felt the cost of grocery shopping had risen over the previous four weeks.
The research also shows that 23 per cent of Irish respondents intended to buy a new car over the next six months, compared to 26 per cent globally and 31 per cent in the US.
Uptick
Daniel Murray, the Deloitte Ireland partner who is its head of consumer, said consumer confidence in late October had remained "encouragingly steady" even as cases grew.
“Now, even as cases remain high and the Irish public is once again being asked to alter their behaviour, businesses and consumers have adapted to such an extent that our economy should still experience some level of uptick in activity that the holiday period traditionally brings,” he said.
