The importance of the availability of supportive and cost effective workspaces to start-up and growing businesses has always been a priority in County Laois. The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic saw the rapid move to remote working by many employees some of whom may never return to the traditional office setting but may continue to work from home or another suitable location close to home such as a remote working hub.
The benefits of remote working are well documented but include things like improved work/life balance for individuals and their families; rejuvenation of rural towns and villages; decreased carbon emissions; alleviating housing issues and increasing job opportunities as physical location becomes less important.
The recent Government publication “Making Remote Work – National Remote Work Strategy” welcomes the move towards remote working while identifying that a person’s home may not be the ideal location from which to be located. County Laois is well poised to maximise these benefits thanks to its central location on the island of Ireland, proximity to road/rail networks, airports and ports. The county also has six established coworking hubs known as the Laois Hub Collective who collaborate with each other and other relevant stakeholders to promote their offering.
We recommend the establishment of a formalised framework of these stakeholders to include representatives from (but not limited to): Laois County Council Business Support Unit, Laois County Council Local Enterprise Office, Laois Partnership, Laois Chamber, Laois Offaly Education and Training Board, the Cube, third level institutions, local business community and the Laois Hub Collective to collectively plan and collaborate to ensure facilities are in place to achieve the following outcomes as mentioned in the Remote Working Strategy:
- To meet anticipated demand as a result of the mandate for public sector employers, colleges and other public sector bodies to move to 20 percent home and remote working in 2021
- To raise awareness of existing remote hub infrastructure in Laois
- To promote remote work amongst businesses both in Laois and outside the county
- To provide training and upskilling opportunities required for the successful adoption of remote work
It is clear that remote work is poised to become a permanent feature in the Irish workplace and it is vital that our county development plan has a suitable framework in place in order to ensure Laois benefits from this in economic, social and environmental terms. Given the various networks already in place, collaboration as described above, will reap rewards and have a significant impact on both the local economy and the lives of local people.