The UK has the most home workers in Europe, with one in four employees
working from home, according to a new report.
Datamonitor research reveals 26 million employees, almost 16 per cent of the
European workforce, spent part or all of their working month at home last year.
Nearly seven million of these home workers live in the UK.
In Europe, the number of homeworking days was 2.1 billion, about a six per
cent share of the total number.
The study predicts the number of European home workers will increase to 40
million by 2005.
Over the next three years, The Netherlands will have the biggest rise of 88
per cent, followed by Germany and Italy at 70 per cent. However, the UK will
remain the home-working capital of Europe, with a projected 8.3 million
employees working from home .
Gavin Humphries, director of analysis at Datamonitor, believes employers are
increasingly adopting it for business benefits.
"Home working makes employees more productive, as they are more
organised, disciplined with less distractions." he said.
"Absenteeism rates improve because staff don’ t have to commute to
work. Employer overheads are also reduced.
"The only downside is some line managers think that because employees
work from home, they are constantly on call."
Almost half the European home-workers average less than one day a week at
home.
The report also reveals six out of 10 home workers are male, usually in
non-manual roles.
By Paul Nelson
