A new study by research group, Grupo de Diarios América (GDA) has found that more than half of Latin Americans could still be working from home despite the easing of travel restrictions related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in most of the countries across the region.

In the study, GDA pointed to a survey done of 7,500 people, which showed that 59 per cent of those surveyed said that they were working from home. However, the researchers pointed out that the precise proportion of people working from home could have changed by now given the fact that the survey was conducted in the month of June.

They explained that the numbers could be particularly higher in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work is becoming new normal in some countries.

In the study, 26 per cent of respondents said that they had started going to the office but had managed to obtain flexible-working hours.

Puerto Rico, with 76 per cent, has the highest percentage of teleworkers and is followed by Mexico at 74 per cent, Costa Rica coming in third at 74 per cent, Argentina at 70 per cent and Colombia with 67 per cent.

However, the bottom of form countries with a lower number of people working remotely includes Panama with 45 per cent; Ecuador, 48 per cent; Venezuela, 54 per cent; El Salvador, 55 per cent, and Uruguay with 51 per cent.

Interestingly, in the survey, most of the respondents appeared to prefer hybrid offices, meaning they want to have the option of combining both modalities.