COVID-19, travel behaviours and business recovery in Scotland: a survey of employers to understand their attitudes

Abstract

The report provides a snapshot of employers’ experience of their staff working from home / flexible working, business travel and commuting before the COVID-19 pandemic, during the lockdown in March-June 2020, and in the longer term as we recover from the pandemic.

Based on a survey of employers the report found that • Nearly three-quarters of businesses/organisations either already support and encourage home working or plan to do so in the future. • Many employers reported that they would be most likely to support sustainable journeys to work by adjusting start and finish times to avoid peak times on public transport/during winter months. • Distance was the most frequently cited barrier to the use of more sustainable modes for people’s journeys to work. • Many employers suggested that in the future they will attend more meetings and events online than they did before the pandemic and that they anticipate making less use of air travel, car sharing and public transport for future business trips. • The implications of the move to home working during the pandemic lockdown, both on the operation of businesses/organisations and the welfare of their staff, was characterised by a mix of advantages and disadvantages. Drawing on the findings of the survey the report makes a number of recommendations relating to public transport, active travel, supporting organisations transition to online working.