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Recession Increasing The Number Of Home Workers

06/06/2009

By Lea Pachta

The recession is making even more people work from home. Research by Lexmark International has found that one in three is already working from home regularly and one in four is expecting their home working time to increase as a direct result of the economic recession. The study also found that 75 per cent of all home workers have a designated workspace at home, and half of them using a dedicated study room.

Working from home is becoming ever-more popular, whether it is lead by cost-cutting employees or businesses. Over half of all the people surveyed believed home was their ideal work place.

"More and more people are now cutting back on the time they spend in the office in favour of working from home," said Paul Callow, UK & Ireland marketing director at Lexmark. "Whether this is an attempt to reduce travel costs, or is a company initiative to save on office expenses, an increasing number of the work force is becoming more flexible in its working practices."

"But businesses need to make sure productivity and profitability are not compromised as a result."
"If management is concerned about the distractions of home working, they should provide guidelines for home workers to ensure productivity rates remain high. Employees should also be offered advice on how to reduce the costs of running their own home office. Simple measures like printing less can save money, helping make the initiative as cost-effective as possible."

The study also looked at home working patterns. Unsurprisingly, people are most productive in the morning, with activity levels peaking around 11 am. This drops off significantly in the afternoon, but picks up again later with one in five respondents saying they like to work in the evening.

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