In order to calculate the effects of this shift in place of work, the researchers used the data set of the microcensus, for which the statistical offices survey one percent of the German population every year. From this sample, they randomly assigned a share of 15 percent to being transferred to the home office – and observed how this changed their budget. The only requirement for this was that they had specified a job in the survey that is now considered to be home office-capable.
Koch and his colleagues calculated the distribution effect of the home office using two parameters: energy costs and mobility costs. “When you are in the home office, you have no costs for professional journeys, but you want to be warm all day long,” he explains the calculation behind it. From the current research on energy consumption, they estimated that there were 20 percent more energy costs at home for each home office day. The heating is responsible for the major part. Electricity is hardly an issue. In the end, the researchers came up with an average of 110 euros more spending on energy in the home office. In terms of mobility, they calculated an average saving of 840 euros per employee from the microcensus data. If you subtract the additional costs from the savings, you get an average of 730 euros, which every home worker saves.
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