Bad internet connections at home could cost the UK economy £60 billion per year

Since Covid, many employees now work from home. However, a new study has shown that users with poor internet connections at home are costing the British economy an estimated £60 billion per year.

Steve Bennett Neowin · Nov 14, 2022 05:10 EST with 2 comments

In a new report published by Actual Experience, a company that operated a hybrid workplace management system, it's claimed that homes which suffer from "poor broadband" connections lead to a loss to the UK economy of around £1,000 per worker, or £60 billion per year in total.

In a short summary by The Telegraph, a Savanta ComRes poll of UK employees who work from home regularly found that IT problems had been experienced by 89% of respondents, and 27% of those found that these happened "very" or "fairly" often.

The key examples referenced by the survey include delays to data, primarily for City traders dealing with fast moving assets, but also for time wasted during training, downloading vital documents, disruption in video calls and more.

However, whether these issues can be directly attributed to the user's home network connection is still unknown, considering that the majority of companies utilize a VPN to allow for access to company assets remotely.

Larger companies, such as Apple, and recently, Twitter, have been announcing plans to bring employees back in the office full time, much to the disappointment of staff members. However, some corporations continue to advertise hybrid work as a benefit on job listings.

Source: Telegraph (Paywall) via ISP Review