Status: 05/09/2022 10:04 am
Even after many corona measures were relaxed, many people continue to work from home. In one area in particular, the proportion is extremely high: in the IT sector.
The proportion of German employees working at least partially from home remains high even after the legal obligation ends. In April, it was 24.9%, as announced by the ifo Institute in Munich as a result of its survey of companies.
Compared to the previous month, there was a slight decrease. In March, the value was still 27.6%. But: “After the abolition of the obligation on March 20, the use of the home office will remain at a high level”, says ifo expert Jean-Victor Alipor. “Obviously, many companies have permanently adjusted to more flexible models.” The 56% home office potential calculated by the ifo Institute is therefore almost half used.
Share in the IT sector remains high
Working from home is still more common among service providers than in other industries. According to ifo, it was 35.3% in April, after 38.7% in March. In the IT sector, only a minority of workers have returned to the office so far: the share of working from home was 72.3% in April, after 76.8% in March.
In the automotive industry, on the other hand, the participation of the home office fell from 28.4% to 17.8% last month. For the manufacturing industry as a whole, on the other hand, the figure dropped only slightly from 18.6 to 16.3 percent.
Habeck for renewed expansion
In the context of the war in Ukraine, Federal Minister of Economy Robert Habeck (Greens) has brought the increased use of the home office back into the game. If possible, employers should offer this on a voluntary basis in order to save energy and thus become less dependent on Russian energy supplies. You can first work from home one or two days a week, as you did during the pandemic.