BT chairman, Sir Christopher Bland, has warned UK companies that they will be at the mercy of China and India’s “tiger economies” unless they adopt better working practices,
Speaking at the launch of Work Wise week in London, which aims to encourage smarter working practices across the UK, he said China and India were investing so heavily in technology and education that they will outstrip anything the UK has seen to date both in terms of reduced costs and product differentiation.
Bland encouraged more companies to consider allowing staff to work from home.
“We will be left standing if we don’t change some of our cost structures,” he said. “We already have more than 11,500 home-based workers, tens of thousands of nomadic workers and millions of customers who either already do, or soon will, work in this way.”
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BT stands to be one of the greatest beneficiaries if more people decide to work from home and communicate more through e-mail and the internet.
