News Hooks:
Latest figures for ‘Work from Home Week’ (1st Feb – 7th Feb) reveal there are currently 7.5 million people working for their employer from home. 54% of working Mums also admit they want to work from home with childcare costs exceeding £8,500 a year. Over half (55%) of employees are now working from home more frequently with 72% of companies feeling it boosts company morale, along with productivity (53%) and staff retention (53%).
Absenteeism due to severe weather conditions this year cost the UK £230 million a day which could be avoided in future with greater working flexibility and preparation however only 34% of managers were confident that their organisations had disaster preparation policies including remote working.
Almost half (46%) of flexible workers have a company laptop and 29% have Virtual Private Networking (VPN) but deficiencies exist. Only 23% have anti-virus software and 9% don’t know if there’s security in place for remote working.
Introduction:
Latest research for this year’s ‘Work from Home Week’ (1st Feb – 7th Feb) reveals that 7.5 million of us now work for our employer from home. The research also highlights the benefits of flexible home working with both staff and employers seeing the positive side. For employers, this includes increased staff morale and retention, saving valuable money on office space as well as avoiding absenteeism in circumstances like severe weather. More than half of Mums also say they’d like to work from home, possibly to avoid costs such as childcare which now stand at over £8,500 a year, the daily commute and associated travel expenses of around £1300 a year. Technology also appears to be the key with almost a third of home workers having remote access to their company network and almost half being given a company laptop. However, company security is questionable with only 23% of remote workers having anti-virus and some managers admitting they have no idea whether there is any security in place for remote working.
How can employers better accommodate employee requests for flexible working without compromising their company security?
Joining us in the studio is Home Working Safety Expert, Florian Malecki from SonicWALL.
Suggested Questions:
What are the current home working trends in our area and how do we compare to the rest of the UK?
Why is home working becoming more popular?
What impact does home working have for employees?
What do employees need in order to work from home?
What potential problems can arise from having people working from home?
Where can we find out more information?
