New research released to mark today's third anniversary of the UK's first Covid lockdown has shown that more than a third of people in Scotland would quit their job if employers didn't allow them to work from home.

About 35 per cent of those questioned in a survey commissioned by Glasgow-based video recruitment platform Willo said lockdowns had made them more likely to consider leaving a job if employers won't allow them to work from home, with people under 45 more likely to do so: 48% among those aged 16 to 24; 53% between the ages of 25 and 34; and 44% of those aged 35 to 44.


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Workers in Edinburgh are most likely to quit if unable to work from home, with 43% saying they’d leave their job if bosses asked them to return to the office full-time. Around 30% of Glaswegians said they’d leave.

READ MORE: Amazon orders staff to return to office at least three days a week

The Scottish figures are part of a UK-wide survey of 1,000 people employed across all sectors, including those where working from home is not possible. This suggests that resistance to a full-time return to the workplace is higher among office-based staff.

Willo founder Euan Cameron said the pandemic has driven the biggest change to working habits since the industrial revolution, and "for the better".

“Three years is enough time to show a true shift in worker and employer behaviour," Mr Cameron said.

The Herald: Euan CameronEuan Cameron (Image: Elaine Livingstone)

"It’s no secret that lockdowns were the final hurdle on remote working going mainstream, but what this survey shows is that working from home is now considered a right, not a perk or privilege. If workers aren’t afforded it, they’ll vote with their feet and I think we ‘ll see more of that as years progress. 

Some employers are increasingly pushing for the return of staff, with a separate survey conducted by Slack published earlier this year revealing 50% of leaders want workforces back on site.

READ MORE: Home truths on the future of out-of-office working

More than half of Scottish respondents to the Willo study, conducted by Opinion Matters, said they were unlikely to consider working from an office again. More than a third - 37% - also said they will never again spend as much time commuting as they did before the pandemic, with those aged under 44 again less likely to do so.

Working from home became essential for the majority during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when the UK Government advised people to work from home even once restrictions eased. Only "key workers" such as medical staff, emergency services, and shop workers were excepted to be on site.