The Welsh economy is experiencing a profound and unprecedented shock as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. One of the consequences of lockdowns and public health restrictions has been requiring people to work from home where they are able to. UK data suggests that while just 5 per cent of workers worked from home prior to March 2020, this increased to approximately 45 per cent at the beginning of lockdown.
While this percentage is unlikely to be sustained once the Coronavirus pandemic is more manageable in the medium- to long-term, it is reasonable to expect that more people will work remotely more of the time in the future. The Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales and the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport asked the Wales Centre for Public Policy to synthesise the evidence on the likely implications of remote working for the Welsh economy.
Our work will draw together the evidence available so far from Wales, the rest of the UK and around the world, with a particular focus on small nations and states, to understand how remote working may impact various aspects of economic activity in the future.