No place like home, say UK workers

Nearly 90 per cent of UK workers don’t want to make the daily commute into the office, and would prefer to work from home, according to a new study. The survey by staffbay.com, the social-media based recruitment website, shows that some 88 per cent said they would prefer to work from home if their employer would let them.

In the survey, which asked over 15,000  job seekers their views, just 7 per cent said they wouldn’t want to work from home, and enjoy going into the office.

Tony Wilmott, co-founder of staffbay.com, said: “What we’re seeing here is a huge shift towards employees’ wishes to work more flexibly. With ninety per cent saying they would prefer to work from home, the onus is now on employers to ensure that they afford this flexibility to their workers – if they don’t then they may begin to look for employers that can accommodate their needs.”

There are now some 3.8m homeworkers in the UK – which works out at 13 per cent of the UK workforce. The number of homeworkers has grown considerably over the last decade; in 2001 just 3.1m people worked from home.

Elliot Kidd, co-founder of staffbay.com, added: “The rise of mobile technologies and connectivity means that it employees no longer have to be chained to their desks for eight hours a day – the figures bear this out.

“The way in which we work is changing, people have busier lives and one thing that is clear is, that when they’re looking for a new job, they’re also looking for employers who can off them to opportunity of working from home.”