Smart working: in Italy it drops, but agile workers save 600 euros a year

Smart working slows down: in 2022 in Italy there are about 3.6 million remote workers, almost 500,000 fewer than last year. A decline linked above all to the world of public administration and SMEs, while there is a slight growth in large companies which, with 1.84 million workers, employ almost half of the total smart workers. A slight increase of up to 3.63 million is expected for next year, thanks to the consolidation of agile working models in large companies and a hypothesis of an increase in the public sector.

This is what emerges from the annual research of the Smart Working Observatory of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano according to which the modality is now present in 91% of large Italian companies (it was 81% in 2021), with an average of 9.5 days of remote work per month and projects that almost always act on all the levers that characterize this model.

On the contrary, the trend found among SMEs in which agile work fell from 53% to 48% of realities, for about 4.5 days a month. To hold back in these realities – according to the research – is the organizational culture that favors presence control and perceives Smart Working as an emergency solution. Diffusion in the PA is also slowing down, passing from 67% to 57% of Bodies, with an average of 8 days of remote work per month.

“The spread of Smart Working initiatives in the last two years has led many organizations and people to deal with a radically different way of working compared to that adopted before the pandemic – explains Mariano Corso, Scientific Director of the Smart Working Observatory -. Often, however, the application of new working methods has resulted in the introduction of remote work only, which has made it possible to manage emergencies and support the work-life balance of people, but which does not represent a rethinking of the model. of work organization. It is time to reflect on what “true Smart Working” is, which must be an opportunity to implement a deeper change, focused on work for objectives and an intelligent digitization of activities ».

As if to say that a profound change in working models is needed.

In the meantime, however, workers can enjoy an economically positive impact: those who work remotely two days a week save on average around € 1,000 per year due to the decrease in transport costs. In the same hypothesis of two days a week of remote work, the increase in the cost of household electricity and gas consumption can, however, have an impact of 400 euros per year, reducing overall savings to an average of 600 euros per year. For companies, savings, resulting from the optimization of space and the reduction of consumption, translates into approximately 2,500 euros per worker.

«Overall, Smart Working involves a general reduction in costs both for workers and for the companies that adopt it – explains Fiorella Crespi, Director of the Smart Working Observatory -. At this time of severe tension over energy costs and inflation, these savings could be used to tackle the crisis and support corporate profitability and workers’ purchasing power. Organizations could consider returning part of the savings obtained to workers, but in our survey today only 13% of the companies in the sample provide bonuses or reimbursements that are not meal vouchers for workers who work remotely “.

The environmental impact should also not be underestimated: smart working allows to reduce emissions by about 450 kg per person per year thanks to fewer trips and less consumption in traditional workplaces. Considering the number of current smart workers, the Polimi Observatory calculates lower annual emissions of 1,500,000 tons of CO2 at the country system level. An amount equal to that absorbed by a wooded area 8 times the size of the municipality of Milan.