A new survey from IT and consultancy solutions company OpenSky found that 22% of Irish office workers do not have the necessary tools (including laptop, sufficient internet speeds and secure connection to work systems) to effectively work from home.
OpenSky said this translates to more than 300,000 people.
The research also revealed that Offaly, Clare, Wicklow, Louth and Longford are the counties least equipped to work from home during the coronavirus outbreak.
The counties that are best equipped with the necessary tools for remote working are Monaghan, Roscommon, Tipperary, Wexford and Sligo.
In terms of the age group that were keenest to work from home during the Covid-19 outbreak, the 35-44 category came out on top with 93% saying they were in favour of it, while the over 55s were the least keen to do so at 57%.
Michael Cronin, Managing Director at OpenSky, said that businesses across Ireland that had not even considered remote working before are having to facilitate this for entire teams and extended periods of time amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
He said that as many discovered, this is not something that can be done overnight as organisations need to ensure access to laptops, fast internet speeds, and secure connections to work systems, applications and resources.
"The fact that more than 300,000 office workers aren't equipped to adapt to the current situation is quite startling. Furthermore, business leaders are faced with the challenge of continuing to ensure job satisfaction and engage staff of all ages to maintain motivation levels by making the working from home experience as seamless, flexible and productive as possible," Mr Cronin added.
