A quarter of people now want to work fully remotely so they can live anywhere in the world while working for UK companies, research finds

Working from home has become one of the key battlegrounds in the culture wars – and now almost one in four people think they should even get WFA (work from abroad).

Researchers found that 23 percent of people want to work completely remotely, allowing them to live anywhere in the world while working for companies in Britain.

Generation Z would prefer to move; 44 percent of 18 to 24 year olds say working from home could be extended to working from abroad.

Millennials are the most enthusiastic: 35 percent of 25 to 39 year olds believe that if they can work from home, they should be able to move internationally.

Those between the ages of 40 and 55 – Generation X – are less keen to believe they should be able to work from abroad.

And the baby boom generation – the over-55s – shuns the idea; only 17 percent are attracted to it.

International money app Zing asked 2,000 British adults if they thought the work-from-home culture should be extended to allow them to work from abroad.

James Allen, founder and CEO of Zing, said: “Our research shows that opinions on remote working are evolving internationally across all age groups in the UK.

‘Accelerated by the Covid-19 lockdowns, employees are increasingly exploring remote working options around the world.

‘Remote working offers exciting opportunities, including the chance to immerse yourself in different cultures for an extended period of time.’

Generation Z is most keen to move: 44 percent of people aged 18 to 24 say working from home could be expanded to working from abroad (stock image)

A Mail on Sunday investigation in February found that the NHS has sent hundreds of staff, including senior consultants and managers, to work thousands of miles from Britain.

Freedom of Information requests revealed staff working in countries as far away as Australia and Japan, with at least 335 NHS staff from 33 trusts allowed to work abroad in the past two years.

The actual number is certainly much higher, as 200 trusts and agencies did not respond to FoI requests and 35 stated that they did not have such data.

In September last year it emerged that 1,350 council staff had also been allowed to work from abroad following freedom of information requests from the Taxpayers’ Alliance.

The number has increased from 73 approvals in 2021-2022 to 440 in 2021-2022.

Last year the number rose to more than 700 as the remote working revolution took place.

One local authority has granted 300 requests in the past three years.

Overall, researchers found that more than half (62 percent of Generation Z) now believe that at least part of their working lives will now be spent abroad.

And 17 percent of all ages said they don’t want to be limited by their company to only working in Britain.

Spain is the best choice for people who want to work abroad; 40 percent of all age groups say they would like to work there.

Millennials are the most enthusiastic: 35 percent of 25 to 39 year olds believe that if they can work from home, they should be able to move internationally (stock image)

Canada also scores high: a third (33 percent) say they would like to work there, while the United States stands at 31 percent.

Australia came fourth with 30 percent, while Italy was joint fifth with New Zealand with 28 percent.

According to the latest data from the Office of National Statistics, 16 percent of working adults in Britain worked from September 2022 to January last year (2023).

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, about one in eight working adults – about 12 percent – ​​worked from home.

London employees reported the highest levels of hybrid working, with four in ten working both from home and on their way to work.