Search Results for: Working from home

September 14, 2017

Over a third of UK office staff admit they would rather avoid working from home

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

The idea that the younger generation of workers would be big drivers behind a trend for home working is easily debunked as just another millennial myth. A sizeable number of people under 35 who struggle to buy or rent their own home would find the workplace much more appealing when faced with the prospect of working from cramped, often shared accommodation. Of nearly one-third (31.4 percent) of British office workers who avoid working from home, according to a survey by Crucial, those 45 years old and above have a significantly more positive view on the option than millennials (18- to 34-year-olds). While 40 percent of the 45 and above age group said nothing would keep them from working from home – only 11 percent of millennials felt the same way. The survey of 2,000 British office workers found that the most common reasons UK workers avoid working from home are the lack of human interaction (21 percent), the inability to connect to their company’s IT system (21 percent), having their children at home (18 percent) and a slow or old home PC (18 percent).

November 29, 2016

Slow broadband prevents thousands of Brits working from home ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

Although the vast majority of British people who work from home need a fast internet connection, around a quarter of them are hampered by slow broadband, according to a new survey from comparison website Broadband Genie. The news comes on the day the Government finally announces that BT is to divest its Openreach arm which looks after the nation’s broadband infrastructure. The timing is welcome news for broadband users who have been frustrated for years by the UK’s second rate technological infrastructure. According to the Brodband Genie study the majority of people who work from home believe it has a positive impact on their happiness, work life balance, productivity and motivation. Yet while 90 percent rely on broadband in order to work from home almost a quarter of homeworkers are limited by slow connections.

September 7, 2016

Working from home just as unproductive and frustrating as working in an office ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Knowledge, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

It’s always good to see academic research supporting ideas that would appear pretty obvious but go against a widely accepted narrative. So we should all welcome the results of a new study from researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science, which found that the perceived benefits of working from home disappear over time for both employees and organisations when homeworking is a full-time arrangement. The report concludes that while previous studies have demonstrated how home workers are more productive than office-based workers, the LSE study of more than 500 employees shows that on a long term basis, there are no differences between home and office workers. The reason, according to Dr Esther Canonico from LSE’s Department of Management, the lead author of the report, is that employees no longer see home working as a discretionary benefit or a privilege when it becomes the norm in an organisation.

May 26, 2016

Two in five managers oppose employees working from home ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Flexible working may be growing in popularity among employees but there is evidence of a gap in expectations between employers and employees on where work should take place. A new report from Randstad found that only around a third of UK employees (35 percent) still want to work in the office every day of the week, with a majority (62 percent) wanting the option of working from home. Employers it seems feel very differently, as a report by Cornerstone OnDemand and IDC reveals that cultural attitudes are a major obstacle for the full acceptance of flexible ways of working, preventing employers from viewing it as a legitimate work practice. Two in five line managers (40 percent) admit that they do not want their employees to work from home, and crucially, even if a company facilitates remote working, bosses’ attitudes are keeping their employees in the office, with just 13 percent of employees actually choosing to work from home when given the option.

October 1, 2015

US sees biggest jump in working from home since 2008, claims study ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, Knowledge, News, Wellbeing

According to an analysis of the just-released 2014 American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com, approximately 3.7 million US employees (2.5 percent of the workforce) called home their primary place of work in 2014. This represents a 6.5 percent increase and the largest year over year growth in the number of people working from home since before the recession. The ACS data is based on a nationwide survey of answers to the question “What was your primary means of travel to work during the survey week—’Worked at Home’ is one of the choices. The count only includes those who work at home at least half of the time. According to Global Workplace Analytics far more people work at home on a less frequent basis and many work in “third places” such as coffee shops, co-working facilities, libraries, and just about anywhere there’s an internet connection.

September 28, 2015

More people are working from home, but they can end up feeling lonely ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace

More and more British workers are working remotely, from home and other locations, but they are growing increasingly disconnected from their colleagues. Those are the findings of two studies into new ways of working conducted independently by Plantronics and Regus. According to the Plantronics survey of 2,500 staff, flexible working was given another boost over this Summer in response to the (intermittent) good weather and industrial action by London public transport staff. During August, more than half (55 percent) of the workforce chose to work from home or remotely more convenient to them, the audio communications firm’s study found. On the flipside, the survey of 4,000 workers by serviced office provider Regus claims that almost two-thirds of employees who work from home miss mixing with colleagues and can feel lonely as a result.

January 21, 2014

Working from Home Week: good idea, but it doesn’t suit everyone

by Sara Bean • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

Yesterday was hyped as the most depressing day of the year, but it also marked the beginning of Working from Home Week (20-26 January 2014). The idea will resonate with anyone struggling to get out of bed and join the January commute. There are many advantages to home working; but depending on your personality and personal circumstances there are also disadvantages. Yes, you’ll avoid traffic jams/crowded trains, take the dog for a walk when you fancy and can concentrate on a project without annoying interruptions. But working from home has its disadvantages too; including feeling isolated and finding it difficult to remain motivated. Rather like those who decide to move to the country but find it’s too quiet – for some people the buzz of the workplace is vital to their productivity and wellbeing. More →

April 2, 2013

New research from China highlights benefits of working from home

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Knowledge, Workplace, Workplace design

A new report from researchers at Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Guanghua Management School at Beijing University looking into the experience of working from home at one large Chinese firm has found that the practice led to a 13 per cent increase in productivity. The research also found that workers reported increased levels of job satisfaction and half elected to continue working from home when the choice was given to them at the end of the study period even though it was evident that their chances of promotion on the basis of performance had reduced as a result of the experiment.

April 26, 2022

Growing number of firms link increased productivity to home and flexible working

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News

The number of employers who believe that an increase in homeworking and flexible working has increased their organisation’s productivity or efficiency has jumped significantly over the last year, according to new research from the CIPD. When asked in December 2020, a third (33 percent) of employers said homeworking had increased their organisation’s productivity or efficiency. However, when asked about increased home/hybrid working in October/November 2021, over two-fifths (41 percent) said these new ways of working had increased this. More →

November 17, 2021

Five million UK employees considering ditching home-working due to rising energy bills

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives

Despite having to get up earlier, commute, and the heightened risk of Covid-19 transmission in the office, almost five million UK employees are considering ditching working from home this winter, due to concerns around rising energy costs. More →

September 9, 2021

Majority of younger workers fear loneliness from long-term home working

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working culture, Working lives

New research from Kadence claims that since working from home, Gen Z and Millenials feel disproportionately isolated, and say it is negatively impacting their ability to build and develop relationships at work – and potentially harming their career progress. More →

April 1, 2021

Employers report increased productivity benefits from homeworking

by Jayne Smith • Business, Flexible working, News

The productivity benefits of homeworking appear to have increased during the pandemic, with employers now more likely to say that the shift to homeworking has boosted productivity (33 percent) than they were in June 2020 (28 percent). This is according to new research by the CIPD, based on a survey of 2,000 employers and in-depth interviews with seven organisations in different sectors. More →