Nearly three-quarters (74%) of medium to large-sized enterprises in Ireland are planning to reduce their office space as they embrace remote working on a more permanent basis.

This is according to an independent study commissioned by Equinix which surveyed 127 senior IT decision-makers in Ireland, highlighting sentiments around the challenges posed by the transition to remote work for businesses nationwide. 

The survey findings indicated that 76% of businesses expect to permanently offer more flexibility around remote working for employees.

Despite the many reported benefits of remote working from an employee and business perspective, Equinix’s research found that one-third of Ireland’s IT leaders are experiencing heightened stress from enabling and supporting a remote workforce.

With a view to streamlining support for remote work, 52% of enterprises in Ireland are now planning to increase investment in cloud and data centre services.

More broadly, the survey findings demonstrate the growing importance of reliable and seamless connectivity for businesses with their employees, customers and partners, as well as the inherent need for a robust and scalable IT infrastructure to keep up with fluctuations in business demands.

The technological impact of COVID-19 has led to 67% of businesses experiencing an increase in bandwidth requirements, with 65% of IT decision-makers expecting a sustained increase in their bandwidth requirements post-pandemic.

Commenting on the research, Managing Director for Ireland at Equinix, Maurice Mortell said, "Many businesses have assessed the current landscape, collated feedback from their staff, and prioritised the formulation of tailored remote working guidelines. By giving employees the flexibility to choose what environment works best for them, there will inevitably be a significant drop in the number of staff present on-site each week, thus reducing the need for large, expensive office space."

Source: www.businessworld.ie