UK employees reveal the “number 1 reason” they want to work from home

There are many plus points to working from home, but new research shows that the primary reason Brits would rather work from the comfort of their own surroundings is due to the lack of commute.

The research from World Options also showed that UK workers voted flexible working hours as the second best benefit of working from home.

Some 51% of people who already work from home included the lack of commute in their top three benefits, while 64% of those who do not currently work from home agreed that this would be in their top three motives for leaving an office-based role.

Being able to start and finish when they want was voted in the trop three reasons by 45% of respondents, whilst 50% of office-based respondents said this was among the three major perks.

Commenting on this, ‘stewart Butler, managing director of World Options, said: There are many benefits to working from home, not just for employees but for business owners who are looking to cut overheads and provide staff with a better work-life balance.

“With problems on many train routes this summer and congestion on the roads, it is perhaps unsurprising that so many people selected the lack of commute as their main incentive to work from home.”

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Three quarters of those who do not currently work from home said they would or might like do so in the future.

wearing what I want? was another popular appeal, cited by 37% of home-workers, and being able to work uninterrupted was chosen by 30% of office workers as one of the top three reasons for leaving a traditional working environment in favour of the home.

Butler added: Today’s workforce is looking for a flexible career that fits in better with their life outside of work and businesses must adapt to this change, or risk losing the best talent to more forward-thinking businesses and self-employment.

“The cost of renting extra office space has also got business owners working from home. Jobs that can be done from any location appeal to many types of workers, but especially to those with family commitments that require an element of flexibility.

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Although there were some downsides noted, as 36% of home workers and 51% of office workers said being distracted by household chores and errands was one of the top three disadvantages.

Location wise the room voted as the most used for working from home was the office/study was the most popular at 34%, followed by the sofa at 21% work and 10% work in the bedroom.

Stewart said: A lot of our World Options franchisees have meetings with customers via online applications such as Skype which, again, is a sign of how technology has changed the business world and our ability to work from home.

“We no longer need to travel across town for a 30 minute meeting when it can be done via our computers and we can be more productive in our working day by reducing travel time, but still have that face-to-face communication with customers online.