Jessica Weld

On a cold November morning, I squeezed through the typical rush to board a packed Irish Rail Commuter service from Sallins & Naas to Dublin Heuston. As I sat on one of the last available seats, I took notice of the other passengers around me. Many of them were fellow college students and the remainder were workers on their way to their respective nine to fives. 

It made me think: Wow, aren’t we supposed to be in an era of remote working? 

With the recent news of the co-working giant WeWork’s move to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US due to the falling numbers of office attendance, I pondered on the current demands in the job market and its remote working allowances. Some of Dublin’s largest firms have begun to scale back the office space they occupy in the City Centre. Deloitte has announced plans for its new office space in Dublin to have around 1,400 desks for its circa 2,500 employees. To make the comparison black and white, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, firms had to have desks for every single last one of its employees. Remote working was only a mere fantasy to most workers. Nowadays, it’s almost an expectation.

The question is: What is the consensus amongst employers to allow their employees to work from home? And is the lack of remote working opportunities a deal breaker for workers seeking employment?

To help answer these questions I had a discussion with Chloe Gallagher, a Senior Recruitment Consultant at Dublin based recruitment firm Eirkoo. Chloe recruits on behalf of Eirkoo’s clients in the Financial, Professional and Legal services sectors, possessing a special interest in roles relating to emerging markets in ESG areas. Boasting over four years of experience in the world of recruitment, Chloe has been on the front lines of the employment market both pre and post pandemic, garnering a deep understanding of the changes COVID-19 has inflicted on the workspace. Here is what she had to say:

We hear tales of companies downsizing or closing their office buildings to move their operations fully remote. Have you seen this happening around Dublin?

“Definitely in the tech sector, this has happened. The tech sector had the infrastructure to support this better at the time than other industries. This was big at the start of the pandemic where firms didn’t renew leases on their buildings. Although this isn’t as widespread as people may think. Employers are big on getting their employees in the office at least two days a week. A fully remote role is really difficult to come by at the moment.”

What changes have you seen from Employer’s offerings since the COVID-19 pandemic?

“There has certainly been a more flexible offering across the board with all employers. In 2022 we saw “The Great Breakup” where about 1 million women left their roles due to a lack of flexibility afforded by their employers. Flexible hours is now a lot more wide scale since before the pandemic, for example women can take a few hours off during the day to pick their children up from school and make up the time in the evening.

A development I’ve seen recently is in alternative offerings like Wellbeing Programs and other areas of Corporate Social Responsibility like Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. Support like this can be really important for prospective employees. For example, one of the clients I hired for had a Parent Support Group which proved really attractive to working parents.”

What proportion of the roles you recruit for offer remote working opportunities and what flexibility are employers affording in relation to working hybrid or  fully remote?

“Most roles do offer remote working upon completion of a probation period but as I said, it is very difficult to get a fully remote role in today’s job market, even though the current position of the market is ‘candidate short’ meaning that recruiters everywhere are in headhunting mode, a non-negotiable for firms is office attendance.

I have seen many instances where employees have rejected this, one client I was recruiting for told me that when Covid-19 restrictions eased and offices opened up, one of her staff handed in his notice when he was asked to return to the office.”

Has a lack of remote working been a dealbreaker for any of your candidates?

“It definitely has, of the few fully remote jobs I recruit for, I have seen people take pay cuts of up to €20,000 for the flexibility of fully remote working. Especially when working parents have to consider high childcare costs or if someone’s daily commute can be three hours or more, remote opportunities are very valuable.

Something I’ve observed is that because employees have gotten so used to remote working that they are sometimes anxious about returning to the office. This can sometimes be a reason why candidates are more likely to take up a remote role. 

This is something employers have had to consider to support staff on both sides of the fence, helping employees adapt to working remotely which can be often isolating and also supporting employees in their return to the office environment which can be overwhelming.”

Apart from salary, what else are candidates demanding in roles? Has this changed from pre-pandemic times?

“I’ve noticed that especially amongst the younger generations of workers, wellbeing initiatives have become a key factor in attracting candidates to roles. There has been a huge shift in promoting wellbeing in the workplace and many firms offer benefits like Employee Assistance Programs which can be very attractive. The Wellbeing agenda has been pushed by organisations like IBEC in recent years.

Thinking in comparison to the generation of my parents, back in those days an attractive benefit would be a pension and they wouldn’t expect any more. There has been a big change in this regard. Considering companies like Google and LinkedIn where the facilities and benefits never end because they don’t want you to leave the office!

One benefit that would be almost unheard of before the pandemic is the ability to work from abroad. This is quite rare and is usually only afforded to senior management but if there is an opportunity to work towards this, it can be a strong factor to attract candidates towards an organisation.”

What feedback have you gotten from candidates in remote jobs?

“The feedback overall has been very positive. People have more time to spend with their families, they take up new hobbies and they can get active by getting into walking and running. By not commuting every day, workers have more spare time to enjoy.

A big benefit in management roles is less of a need for work travel for meetings and the flexibility of remote working has allowed mothers to remain in the workplace for the most part as they can work around their families.

There are negatives to remote working of course, many people feel isolated as they can be stuck working in their box room for example. Another issue would be that people sometimes find it hard to disconnect from their work and they are more inclined to work after hours. Having a good company culture and support from your employer is important for a good remote working experience.”

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So as it seems, remote working is still around and is here to stay, although I wouldn’t advise that anyone decides to relocate to Inis Oírr anytime soon. A Hybrid model of working seems to be the way forward for most companies and anyone in the market for a new job will be hard pressed to find a role that is fully remote. 

For now, I’ll have to put up with the busy commute and learn to appreciate the joys of being packed in like sardines on the Red Line Luas. Although, it’s not all that grim; I’ll get to look forward to the comforts of being at home two to three days a week and a wellbeing programme by way of dog therapy and free fruit in my future graduate role. It really was high time that working parents were given more flexibility and being in the next generation of workers, which is something that I as a future member of the workforce celebrate. As it seems, compromise is the name of the game in today’s job market, and a proactive stance to the effects of COVID-19 on the workplace is critical.