HUGHES Insurance has become the first major business in the north to commit to home-working on a permanent basis.
Its 250-strong workforce, some of whom would normally have been travelling many miles to the office, will now be permitted work remotely, while also having the option to visit its Newtownards headquarters up to two days a week when restrictions are relaxed.
And it comes as a UK-wide study this week found that home-working will be one of the major and lasting outcomes of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Cardiff University paper found that 88 per cent of employees who worked at home in June said they would like to continue doing so in some capacity, while by September that has rise to 93 per cent.
In June, some 70 per cent of respondents who were working from home said they were just as productive, if not more so, than before the pandemic - and by September that number had increased to 85 per cent.
The decision by Hughes, part of the Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, follows an internal poll of its own employees, all of whom had been remote working since last March, which found that 93 per cent don't want to return to the traditional working model.
But its decision runs contrary to a number of other major employers in the north, who insist they will revert to as near-normal pre-pandemic work patterns as possible.
It is also a move which, if replicated in larger numbers, is feared will having a negative long-term impact on town centres, where office workers would normally be out spending regularly in shops and restaurants.
No-one at Hughes was laid off or put on furlough throughout the pandemic, and indeed the broker is currently undergoing a recruitment drive to fill an additional 10 more positions.
Sarah Balmforth, its head of human resources, said: “We have been part of the fabric of Northern Ireland for over 40 years, and although we have adapted our offering in response to customer needs, we are here to stay.
“The remote model has served us extremely well throughout this pandemic, with customers enjoying an impressive level of service, and the technology we have in place still ensures that customers feel connected to our employees.
“We live by our value of putting our people first, and as such have created this model to align with both the strategy of the business and the needs of our staff.”
She said the operational shift offered greater flexibility to staff, who can now choose where they work, while also better supporting families to manage parenting responsibilities and enjoy more time together.
“The physical and emotional wellbeing of our staff is a priority as we adapt and refine how we work. Our goal now is to focus on sustaining the benefits of the model and ensuring that employees can successfully disconnect when not working,” Sarah added.
