Only two of 11 planned new ‘hubs’ to enable Northern Ireland Public Servants to blend office time with working from home have been completed.
The remaining nine are still in the planning stage, with some unlikely to become operational for more than a year.
A location for the hub in the Antrim and Newtownabbey area has yet to be found.
The so-called Connect2 regional hubs are the Government’s answer to the COVID-19 pandemic and a growing insistence that Public Servants should not return to offices full-time in the longer term.
Most Government officers are based in Greater Belfast but the idea behind the hubs is to allow staff to work closer to where they live, subject to business requirements, to boost their work-life balance and the various local economies.
A survey showed almost 98 per cent support for some form of blended or ‘hybrid’ working for the future.
A report by the Department of Finance stated it was significant that “so many respondents reported strong, positive experiences as a result of having the ability to work flexibly”.
“It is important that the Northern Ireland Civil Service recognises the positive impacts this has had on health and wellbeing,” the Department said.
The first two hubs opened last year in Ballykelly and Downpatrick.
This year is expected to see at least four more open, with the remainder scheduled for 2023.
Minister for Finance, Conor Murphy said the hubs would transform how Public Servants lived.
“It will enable them to be based closer to home, reducing travel time and lowering carbon emissions while importantly promoting regional economic balance,” Mr Murphy (pictured) said.
“A decision on when to open the completed hubs will be taken with due regard to current public health advice,” he said.
The new hybrid working policy has been agreed with trade unions.
Belfast, 11 January 2022
