Half of Swiss working from home – and enjoying it

Almost half of the Swiss labour force is currently working from home – and they like it, according to a survey by consultants Deloitte Switzerland. 

“Teleworking appeals to many of them, so much so that they no longer wish to spend their entire working time at the office in the future,” Deloitte said in a statement on Thursday. 

Some 41% of the 1,500 people surveyed said they were more productive at home, “despite less interaction with colleagues and the distraction of having children around”. 

While only 25% had worked from home before the coronavirus crisis, compared with 48% currently, 34% of respondents indicated that they would want to continue working from home after the end of the lockdown measures. 

“The fact is that the Covid-19 crisis […] will probably accelerate the already observed long-term trend of increased telework,” said Deloitte Switzerland. 

Common practice 

Statistics for 2019 show that even before the pandemic working from home had become a common practice in Switzerland. Flexible working hours have also been on the rise. 

So-called “home office” was practised by 33.7% of workers in Switzerland last year – 5% all the time, 14% regularly and 15% occasionally, the Federal Statistical Office reported last month. 

The most common sectors were teaching, IT and communications, with over 60% of employees from these areas working from home at least once over the year.