Key takeaways
This survey report on working from home is the first of three reports based on a behavioural change survey conducted by Venture Insights and commissioned by NBN Co.
81% of all working from home respondents say that the experience of working from home has positively changed the way they think about managing work/life flexibility.
67% of all respondents say that they expect to work from home more after the COVID-19 crisis has ended.
81% of working from home respondents agreed that access to fast broadband had made them feel more secure in their jobs during COVID-19, and 83% agreed that they could not have completed their jobs without access to fast internet.
69% of all respondents purchased one or more devices to support their online activities, and that number increased to 79% for those working from home.
43% of all respondents had created new or dedicated office space, 26% had improved home cybersecurity and 20% had improved or purchased home wi-fi setup. These numbers were 56%, 20% and 20% respectively for those who were working from home.
The number of all respondents rating the importance of broadband access and internet services as ‘Very Important’ or ‘Important’ was 84%.
Background
This survey report on working from home is the first of three reports based on a behavioural change survey conducted by Venture Insights and commissioned by NBN Co (completed 28th April 2020). The aim of the survey was to understand how new needs due to COVID-19 had changed consumer broadband and technology usage.
The survey was conducted nationally across Australia for 1,006 respondents, all with a broadband connection, and with a representative survey sample across demographic and regional groupings.
Survey data
Specific questions about working from home were answered by survey respondents who were in full-time or part-time employment before the COVID-19 crisis started (58% of all respondents). 66% of these respondents did not work from home before COVID-19 (65% for metro and 74% for regional areas) and the remainder worked from home either completely (8%) or sometimes (26%).
Since the COVID-19 crisis started, the number of employed respondents working from home partially or fully, went up to 54%, which is 20% more than pre-COVID-19. The number of respondents working from home partially or fully since COVID-19 for metro areas was 57% (up by 22%) and for regional areas was 39% (up by 13%).
The 54% of the respondents who can work from home now viewed the influence of fast broadband in their jobs positively. 81% agreed that fast broadband had made them more secure about their jobs, and 83% agreed they could not have completed their jobs without fast internet. 67% indicated they expected to work from home more after the COVID-19 crisis has ended. This number was 69% for metro areas and 54% for regional areas. 81% of all working from home respondents say the experience of working from home has positively changed the way they think about managing work/life flexibility.
Improvements to work from home spaces
Respondents to the survey were significantly likely to have made improvements to their home internet setup, including the purchase of new devices.
Looking at all respondents, 43% of the respondents had created new or dedicated home office space, 26% had improved home cybersecurity and 20% had improved home wi-fi setup and/or purchased new routers or wi-fi extenders.
Considering only the people who are working from home post-COVID-19:
56% of the respondents created new or dedicated office space. This increased with income.
20% had improved home cybersecurity
20% had improved home wi-fi setup and/or purchased new routers or wi-fi extenders.
28% had purchased new computer peripherals such as webcams, keyboards and monitors
30% had improved home wi-fi setup and/or purchased new routers or wi-fi extenders.
Since COVID-19, 46% of all respondents have purchased one device to support their online activities, 12% purchased two, 7% purchased three and 4% purchased four or more devices. 31% did not purchase any device.
For respondents working from home, those who purchased one, two, three and four+ devices were 45%, 16%, 11% and 8% respectively. 21% did not purchase any device.
The number of purchases generally decreased with age. While 80% of all respondents in the age group 25-34 years bought one or more devices, it was only 54% for the age group 65+ years.
A majority of all respondents (59%) spent less than $250 on these devices, 18% spent between $250-$499 and 15% spent between $500-$999. For respondents working from home, these numbers were 46%, 22% and 20% respectively. The expenditure decreased with age.
On a scale of 1 (not important) – 5 (very important), the share of all respondents rating the importance of broadband access and internet services as very important or important was 84%.
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