What are working from home and teleworking?
Generally speaking, teleworking is where some or all of the work you do for someone else is carried out in your home. Advances in technology have meant that many jobs that, up until now, were tied to office buildings, can just as easily (sometimes more easily) be undertaken by people working from their own home offices. British Telecom reckons that there are about two million people working at home and that more than a quarter of them are teleworkers.
Although there’s no official definition of ‘teleworking’, it’s usually agreed that it means using modern technology to help you work from home.
No set patterns define the teleworking arrangement between employer and employees. Circumstances vary, depending on the nature of the job and the functions of the company. What is clear is that, if it is properly thought through, teleworking can benefit workers and employers alike, and even have a positive social effect.
Benefits for employers
- Savings on office space
- Improved productivity – some surveys suggest that people working from home are up to 30 per cent more efficient than their office-based colleagues
- Retaining trained staff who might have had to leave because of a change in their circumstances, for example, if their partner had to move because of their job or if one of their family needs to be looked after for a period of time
Benefits for employees
- Less time spent commuting, so less stress and more time available for other activities
- Possibility to arrange work to suit individual working patterns or life choices
- Flexibility to cope with sudden emergencies
Social benefits
- Teleworking means fewer commuters, so fewer cars on the road, so less traffic and less pollution
- People who work from home are in a better position to join in with local activities and so help build community networks
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