More employers in Britain say working from home is boosting the productivity of their staff, according to a survey published on Thursday.

A third of employers believe the transition to home-working has increased productivity, up from 28% last June, said the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Those who said working from home had decreased productivity fell to 23% from 28%.

Claire McCartney, CIPD senior policy adviser for resourcing and inclusion, said “the pandemic has shown that ways of working that previously seemed impossible are actually possible.”

It remains to be seen how permanent the shift to working from home proves to be.

A survey published last week by accountants KPMG revealed that most major global companies no longer planned to reduce their use of office space after the COVID-19 pandemic, though few expect business to return to normal this year.

In a report, the CIPD said more progress can be made to offer flexible hours: part-time work is used by 19% of staff but favored by 28%, and 3% of employees work full-time hours over fewer days while 19% would use the arrangement if available.

The CIPD survey was based on responses from 2,000 employers.