'A load of nonsense' - Denis O'Brien slams remote working as he receives lifetime achievement award

Denis O'Brien has slammed remote working calling it "a load of nonsense" and said it had "destroyed Ireland's work ethic".

The billionaire businessman was speaking at the Forvis Mazar's Irish Investor Awards at the Mansion House in Dublin last Friday where he was picking up a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 67-year-old who founded media companies Digicel and BT Ireland said that working from home has compromised productivity and that he now considers it a threat to Ireland's economy because it has compromised productivity in the workplace and caused a loss of competitiveness, energy, creativity and ideas

"We have always had a great reputation in Ireland for hard work, unfortunately, now there is now a pervasive, what I call 'entitlement culture', where graduates and young people are dictating their work practices to their employers", he said.

"This lark pf people saying 'I'll come into the office on Tuesday and Wednesday; otherwise I'm going to be working from home', is a load of nonsense. I don't employ those kinds of people, and to be honest with you, I never will", he added.

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According to The Currency, which first reported O'Brien's criticisms, his speech was met with "enthusiastic applause"

Mr O'Brien placed the blame on Covid and "very weak" Government direction adding that, "everybody, and particularly the civil service, needs to get back to the workplace immediately."

Speaking about his former employer, aviation tycoon Tony Ryan, O'Brien said he would have never allowed his employers to work from home and if he asked for his permission to do so he "would have told me to eff off".

Chief executive of ISME Neil McDonnell echoed O'Brien's comments saying there is "no question" remote working has caused a loss of productivity across the country.

"That has been said by lots of businesses", said McDonnell, "and it it is relatively easy to track in metrics, such as in sales roles, because at the end of the day you can see the money coming in.

"There is a minority, and it is a minority, who consider hybrid, or working from home, to be a childcare solution, and it's not a childcare solution", he added, "There's also a big issue with interpersonal skills. It's not just a young persons problem. Everyone's social skills have fallen off a cliff since the start of remote working."

However, Laura Bambrick, social policy officer with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) disagrees. 

She said the jury is still out in relation to low productivity levels and added that income tax returns and growth in employment would suggest there has been little to no damage.

"We are not seeing the downfall of business, And ultimately unions are in the business of protecting jobs. We want good terms and conditions, but if this was a threat to jobs, it wouldn't have the backing of trade unions."

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Dr Bambrick continued to say that Ireland has the second-highest rate of remote working in the EU, behind Finland, due to the massive proportion of high-end, high-value jobs in the economy and this additional workforce is being driven by women and women of child-bearing age.

"We are doing the kind of work that can be done remotely, rather that more manufacturing or hospitality jobs, that would require us to be in the employers' workplace", she said.

"Because we have allowed workers to be hybrid, it means we have been able to grow our workforce. This additional workforce is being driven by women, and women of child-bearing age.

"In the past they might have left the workforce after the second baby, but those families are now able to continue working in those years."

Dr Bambrick also added that any worker whose employer was insisting on coming to the office five days a week should be treated as a "red flag", as this showed a disregard for work-life balance as well as a lack of support for women and a lack of commitment to closing the gender pay gap.