(Bloomberg) --
A Europe-wide push for people to self isolate to prevent the spread of the coronavirus could prove challenging for the majority of the continent’s population who typically don’t work from home.
Six out of 10 individuals in the European Union hadn’t worked from their home in 2018, according to figures compiled by the OECD in Paris.
In Italy, where the government is attempting the world’s first nationwide lockdown, 67% of workers said they never operated remotely and less than a quarter of households have access to ultra-fast fiber broadband.
Some countries may be more reliant on workplaces because of the make-up of their economies. Manufacturing accounts for close to half of Germany’s output, making it harder — if not impossible in some cases — to relocate staff. That compares with the U.K., where manufacturing is about 10% and home working is far more common.
It’s also a matter of infrastructure, which varies widely across the bloc. Countries with weaker penetration of high-speed internet may struggle to keep their workforce operating.
Firms themselves also need to play a part. About two thirds of companies provide staff with mobile devices, laptops or tablets, according to Eurostat. The caveat here: The data is only available for companies with at least 10 staff members. Yet 90% of business in Europe are smaller than that.
What Bloomberg’s Economists Say...
“Getting employees to work from home can be a contingency solution for a number of companies, notably in business services. But for most of the 17% of Europeans working in the manufacturing industry, 7% in construction and 14% in trade and 5% in hotels and restaurants, this option won’t be available.”
—Maeva Cousin, Bloomberg Economics
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