TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As the number of local COVID-19 infections rises rapidly, 60% of employers are mulling the reintroduction of work from home, a survey revealed Thursday (April 14).

The practice first became widespread in Taiwan during a COVID surge in May 2021, when the government reported more than 500 local infections a day. On Thursday, the number of local cases broke a single-day record, reaching 874.

According to the poll by the yes123 job bank, 63.3% of businesses are considering having their staff work from home again, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported.

A total of 58.1% of companies had allowed employees to stay away from the office, but 50.3% found the quality of work suffered. Meanwhile, 38.1% said the location made no difference, and 11.6% said their staff actually performed better at home.

Employers mentioned key issues with remote work, including maintaining service quality for customers, problems with teamwork and brainstorming, supervision of the progress made on tasks, and the unclear separation of working hours and time off.

The survey also found that 41.6% of employees saw no difference in the quality and efficiency of work between home and the office. Also, 36.2% said working at the office was more efficient, while 22.2% believed working from home was more efficient.

The survey was conducted from March 30 to April 7 and received 1,210 valid replies from employees with a margin of error of 2.82%. The 976 valid replies received from businesses had a margin of error of 3.14%.