People in New Zealand who worked from home
By occupation and whether they usually work from home, 2020 Q2, thousands of people
| Measure | Category | Thousands of people |
|---|---|---|
| Don't usually work from home | Clerical and administrative workers | 77.7 |
| Don't usually work from home | Community and personal service workers | 20 |
| Don't usually work from home | Labourers | 4 |
| Don't usually work from home | Machinery operators and drivers | 1.5 |
| Don't usually work from home | Managers | 106.9 |
| Don't usually work from home | Professionals | 205.5 |
| Don't usually work from home | Sales workers | 21.1 |
| Don't usually work from home | Technicians and trades workers | 15.4 |
| Usually work from home, at least some of the time | Clerical and administrative workers | 47.6 |
| Usually work from home, at least some of the time | Community and personal service workers | 18.7 |
| Usually work from home, at least some of the time | Labourers | 12.3 |
| Usually work from home, at least some of the time | Machinery operators and drivers | 4.5 |
| Usually work from home, at least some of the time | Managers | 206 |
| Usually work from home, at least some of the time | Professionals | 162.3 |
| Usually work from home, at least some of the time | Sales workers | 22.1 |
| Usually work from home, at least some of the time | Technicians and trades workers | 23.6 |
Definitions
Labour force: members of the working-age population, who during the survey reference week, were classified as 'employed' or 'unemployed’.
Working-age population: the usually resident, non-institutionalised, civilian population of New Zealand aged 15 years and over. This is the target population for this survey.
Employed: people in the working-age population who, during the reference week, did one of the following:
- worked for one hour or more for pay or profit in the context of an employee/employer relationship or self-employment
- worked without pay for one hour or more in work which contributed directly to the operation of a farm, business, or professional practice owned or operated by a relative
- had a job but were not at work due to: own illness or injury, personal or family responsibilities, bad weather or mechanical breakdown, direct involvement in an industrial dispute, or leave or holiday.
Employment rate: the number of employed people expressed as a percentage of the working-age population. The employment rate is closely linked to the working-age population definition.
Labour force: members of the working-age population, who during the survey reference week, were classified as 'employed' or 'unemployed’.
Labour force participation rate: the total labour force expressed as a percentage of the working-age population. Labour force participation is closely linked to how the working-age population is defined.
Not in the labour force: any person in the working-age population who is neither employed nor unemployed. For example, this residual category includes people who:
- are retired
- have personal or family responsibilities such as unpaid housework and childcare
- attend educational institutions
- are permanently unable to work due to physical or mental disabilities,
- were temporarily unavailable for work in the survey reference week
- are not actively seeking work.
Unemployed: all people in the working-age population who, during the reference week, were without a paid job, available for work, and had either actively sought work in the past four weeks ending with the reference week, or had a new job to start within the next four weeks.
Unemployment rate: the number of unemployed people expressed as a percentage of the labour force.
For more information
Changes to data collection/processing
The first half of the quarter took place during COVID-19 alert levels 3 and 4, when there were widespread workplace restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19. From 11:59pm on 13 May 2020, New Zealand entered alert level 2 and these restrictions began to ease, until New Zealand entered alert level 1 at 11:59pm on 8 June 2020.
The HLFS captured an average of New Zealand’s labour market across each of the four COVID-19 alert levels
COVID-19 resulted in data collection and measurement challenges for the June 2020 quarter. While data collection via face-to-face interviewing was suspended for the majority of the quarter, interviews for the HLFS continued to be carried out over the telephone. At the same time, lockdown affected many New Zealanders’ ability to look for work, impacting how they are represented in official labour market statistics.
The HLFS included two new questions for employed people about working from home and job security.
Stats NZ asked respondents who worked during the week before their interview whether any of the hours they worked were at home and, if so, how many. Respondents were also asked whether they have always worked some hours from home, which will give us an indication of whether people worked from home for the first time.
Stats NZ also asked respondents what they think the chance is that they could lose their main job or business in the next 12 months for reasons beyond their control. A five-point scale ranging from ‘Almost certain’ to ‘Almost no chance’ was used to answer this question.
Data provided by
Dataset name
Household Labour Force Survey: Supplementary tables June 2020
Webpage:
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/labour-market-statistics-june-2020-quarter
How to find the data
At URL provided, download 'Household labour force survey: June 2020 quarter – supplementary tables' file.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: Household Labour Force Survey: Supplementary tables June 2020
From the dataset Household Labour Force Survey: Supplementary tables June 2020, this data was extracted:
- Sheet: Table 6
- Range:
B9:H70 - Provided: 315 data points
This data forms the table Labour Force - Hours worked from home by sex, ethnic group, age, employment relationship, hours worked, industry and occupation 2020 Q2.
Dataset originally released on:
August 05, 2020
Purpose of collection
The primary purpose of the survey is to estimate the number of people employed, unemployed, and not in the labour force (NILF), and from them, the unemployment rate for the New Zealand labour market. The Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) is designed to produce statistics at the family level, and use of the survey for a purpose for which it was not designed is inevitably subject to some limitations.