WARWICK SMITH/Stuff
Working from home has let Nina Mercer return to full-time work. she is pictured in her work space with 13-year-old son, MacLean, and the two family dogs, Emmy (left) and Jed.
The pandemic has permanently changed the playing field for workers and their lunch habits, as many Manawatū businesses embrace and retain the work-from-home options that got them through lockdown.
A recent survey of Manawatū businesses a year after lockdown, as part of 2degrees’ latest Shaping Business Study, found 77 per cent had staff who worked from home full or part-time.
It was a massive change from the pre-Covid days, when 55 per cent of the businesses didn't offer the option at all, which confirmed the early signs of a permanent shift the Central Economic Development Agency noticed last June.