Older Australians, high income earners and men more likely to work from home: Survey

One-in-three Australians who work part-time or full-time have used the internet to work from home, with older Australians and high income earners more likely to do so than younger workers or those on lower incomes, according to a survey released today.

The report, titled Connected Commuters, was conducted by Evolve Research for the NBN Co. It shows around 33% of all Australians who are currently employed full-time or part-time have worked from home using the internet.

Among those working from home, 39% earn over $75,000 compared to 18% with a lower income, with men (35%) outnumbering women (30%) and full time employees (35%) doing so more often than those working part-time (27%).

In terms of age, 39% of employees aged 65 and over have worked from home, compared to just 18% for staff aged between 18 to 24, with 32% to 25% in other age brackets.

Of those who have worked from home, 29% say they would do so more often if they had a faster and more reliable internet connection, compared to just 6% of those who haven’t worked from home.

Not surprisingly, those opting to work from home rated internet as significantly more important than those who didn’t, with 65% of those working from home describing it as vital and a further 28% saying it makes everything much easier.

In contrast, among those who don’t work from home, just 33% say it’s vital and 31% say it’s important, while 34% say they either “don’t really need it” or it would “make no difference if it was not there”.