Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche today released updated data on public servants working from home.
This is the second time the Commission has collected this data, following the initial survey in late 2024.
The data shows, on average, public servants work from home 0.85 days per week, down slightly from 0.89 in the previous survey.
The data, collected from government agencies in July, also shows more than half of all public servants (55%) do not typically work from home, or do so infrequently. About 42% work one day a week from home, with 22% working from home two days a week.
Data collected in the 2025 Public Service Census found 65% of public servants use some form of flexible working arrangement – compressed hours, flexible start and finish times or work from home. In the census, 49% of managers said staff working from home either increased productivity or had no impact.
“All working from home arrangements are now agreements between staff and their managers,” said Sir Brian.
“This reflects the Government’s expectation that working from home is not an entitlement.”
Three of the five agencies with higher levels of remote work in the 2024 survey have significantly reduced their averages. The Ministry for Ethnic Communities, for example, has reduced its average from 2.2 to 1.3 days per week.
The most common working from home day is Friday, with 23% of public servants typically working from home on a Friday.
Now that oversight has been embedded across the public service it will no longer be necessary to collect the data.
“But agencies and managers will continue to monitor working from home arrangements against the guidance,” said Sir Brian.
