Remote Working Staff Survey
The overall response rate to the Staff Pulse Survey was 75% (1288) with quite a balanced divide between academic/research staff and professional/technical/support staff. In terms of gender divides, twice as many woman (63%) than men (31%) responded with the remaining (6%) defining themselves as non-binary/self-declare/prefer not to say.
Some preliminary findings:
A significant majority reported that they had faced challenges in working from home though an equally large number of respondents said that there are advantages. 45% indicated that they have adapted well and were finding remote working enjoyable and productive. A further 23% noted that it was difficult to adjust at first but they had adapted and 32% reported that they are still adjusting to remote working. Key challenges identified include the lack of a suitable workspace, increased workload, not having access to suitable equipment, internet connectivity, childcare, home schooling, isolation and loneliness. The reduced costs of commuting, car parking, no traffic and greater flexibility in managing workload were cited as some of the positives.
As expected, a large percentage of respondents are caring for children of preschool/school going age while another 26% indicated additional caring responsibilities within and outside of the home.
Collectively these results show that we have all faced issues - big and small - in making the sudden shift to remote working, even if our individual circumstances have been unique. It has been very useful therefore to receive many detailed comments to the survey questions which will help us to identify other issues with remote working, including those of diversity and inclusion that will need to be taken on board by UL. Overall, it has be reassuring to see that a majority of respondents are now more optimistic about working from home than at the start of the pandemic.