By Rachael Grealish

One in five Brits have said they’d prefer to continue working from home after the COVID pandemic.

According to results from a YouGov survey shows that most British workers (57 percent) want to be able to work from home after the pandemic.

This figure is made up of 37 percent who say they want to work from home some of the time, and 20 percent saying they want to work from home full time.

Only one in three, 37 percent, said they really don’t want to work from home again.

Should employers allow Brits to continue working from home once lockdown fully comes to an end this would make a huge difference to workers actually in the office.

Before the pandemic, 65 percent of workers say they never worked from home.

Only 11 percent did so full time, while a further 21 percent worked from home some of the time.

Asking Cumbrians what they prefer, it seems many actually can’t wait to get back into the office.

Robert Lambert, from Egremont, said getting back to work ‘lifted’ his mood.

He said: “I’ve recently started a new job where I’m back on the site five days a week and after spending a year WFH (working from home) and I love being back amongst it, my mood has been lifted and I’m happier in and out of work.”

He went on to say he did support the idea employers exploring work from home availability for employees.

“However I do believe some businesses should explore working from home options going forward for employees who prefer it,” he continued, “Ive seen it improve the employees morale and proficiency.”

Another west Cumbrian, Colin Browne, said working from home made it difficult for him to ‘switch off’ at the end of the day.

He said: “Personally I hated working from home last summer when the education department was removed from the prison. I found it very stressful trying to lead a team who were scattered all over south lakes.

“It was particularly stressful when three of my team were allowed on site and I wasn’t due to being clinically vulnerable.

“I felt I couldn’t support my team if I wasn’t there. I also found the work/home life balance impossible to manage. I would often work through lunch and beyond 5pm.

“I found it difficult to ‘switch off’ at the end of the working day. I prefer my 40 min commute as that allows me to unwind from the day.

“I’m glad that during this lockdown we were kept on site although it was still challenging delivering education through distance learning packs rather than in class teaching.”

Of course, there are some Cumbrians who’ve preferred working from home, Julie Bell said it allowed her work to revolve around her, not the other way around.

She said: “Definitely working from home. I’m not losing time from commuting to the office.

“I can start earlier and finish earlier at home, so I feel like I have more time for myself and my family. I’m still doing the same amount of work as I would do if I was back in the office.

“But now work revolves around me rather than me revolving around work. I really do not want to go back to the office.”