Working from home has become an increasingly important benefit to the workplace and will become increasingly so. The ability to work from home has always been undermined traditionally by a corporate distrust. If workers are not at their desks and managed, they can’t be trusted to do the work of full hours.
According to a release sent out from Kin Communications, the number of people regularly working from home has risen to 4.2 million in the last decade. An additional 1.8 million people would like to work from home but are not given the chance.
Work from Home Week (15-21st January)
Work From Home Week aims to educate both employers and employees about the benefits. Those people working from home now account for 13.7% of the UK workforce. There is potential for many more of us to reap the rewards of home-working. While many companies offer flexible working, or the option to work from home. Employees often feel resistant to the idea, opting to stay in the office to ‘prove’ they’re working.
“Over half (53%) of workers feel they’d be more productive if they could work outside the office”
However over half (53%) of workers feel they’d be more productive if they could work outside the office. Being free to work without unnecessary meetings, confusing email chains, or long calls.
General job satisfaction and happiness increases in people who work from home. Working in comfortable familiar surroundings where you can enjoy a greater degree of control over your immediate environment.
Working from home also means employees are less likely to be exposed to illnesses. Due to avoiding packed public transport, or busy offices where they may be forced to be in close proximity to ill co-workers.
Furthermore, the UK is estimated to lose £300 billion by 2030 due to lost time during traffic congestion . Working from home eliminates this time wastage, helping employees, their employers, and the economy. Reductions in commuting time can help improve worker mental health. Reduce tiredness, and increase overall productiveness by giving them greater flexibility.
Work From Home Week (15th-21st) is back to spread the word about the benefits of working from home. Founder Adam Cox champions worker flexibility and increased productivity:
‘Technology means that most of what needed to happen in an office can happen at home. While it won’t work for certain industries such as catering or building it certainly is viable for most office based sectors. We have found that productivity can actually increase significantly as employees are no longer experiencing the same level of distractions or interruptions.’
Flexible Working Statistics 2017:
As you can see from these flexible working statistics from powwownow, flexible working is a huge priority in our work-life. 67% wish they were offered it. 47% don’t have it encouraged and 40% of people would choose it over a pay rise.
Working from home is key to productivity
With an astounding 70% of workers strongly believing that flexible working would make a job more attractive to them, if employers plan on hiring top talent, flexible working is an imperative. Employees continue to demand improvements in their work-life balance and when flexible working can bridge that gap, what’s to stop them?
After all… 58% of people believe that working away from the office would help them become more motivated, and 53% feel that they would be more productive if they would work outside the office.