If you believe everything you read in the media you’ll know that working from home is a growing trend. There are now 4.2 million home workers based in the UK. It is still the case that the majority of them are self-employed, however a growing number of businesses are encouraging home working or at least experimenting with it to see how it impacts on productivity. 
There are obvious benefits to home working for both the employer and the employee. Employers can save on overheads, downsizing their office space or in some cases expanding their workforce without increasing the size of their premises. This can make sense particularly where individuals work predominantly on their own or if they travel to and from meetings and don’t necessarily need to see colleagues in-between.
Managers often report that home workers are more productive and this could be for a combination of reasons. They have less distractions than in a busy office and are able to get on with specific tasks, they may have more time to work and are less tired and stressed because they aren’t travelling to and from work. They often put more time and effort in because they don’t want to be perceived as skiving at home. They can’t be physically seen in the office so they know their output needs to be visible.
For the employee there are obvious advantages. We’ve all moaned about the time wasted stuck in traffic on a Monday morning or that delay that meant you didn’t get home ‘til late. Imagine making the daily commute a thing of the past! You can prepare whatever you want for lunch in the comfort of your own kitchen and you can wear whatever you are comfortable in. But there are downsides too. Work can be an important part of socialising for many of us and isolation and loneliness can become a problem. The best ideas and solutions often come from spontaneous conversations that are less likely to happen amongst remote workers. There are practical issues too, like do you actually have a space at home that is conducive to working?
Many bosses simply don’t like the idea, they want to see their staff and know exactly what they are up to. This is perfectly understandable as there will always be staff who would take advantage of the situation, putting their feet up to watch Jeremy Kyle when they should be at their desks! For others though the advantage it gives them of saving time commuting or the flexibility of allowing them to drop the kids of at school makes them more dedicated.
The increase in digital technology has definitely made remote working more feasible and there are many that believe it will increase and become the norm. However with big technology companies like Yahoo back tracking and putting a ban on home working for their employees maybe it isn’t going to increase as previously forecast.
