A survey of workers in London and the Home Counties on behalf of Vodafone reveals that, following their experiences over the 2012 Olympics, more than half would welcome the chance to work flexibly more often.
Furthermore, employers are becoming increasingly open to allowing different ways of working. Over half of the workers surveyed said that their bosses already enable flexible working or would be more open to doing so following the experiences of the last two weeks.
Peter Boucher, commercial marketing director at Vodafone, commented: "It is not surprising that the events of the last two weeks are emerging as a turning point in the way Britain is working. For employers and their staff, this has been a 'taster' for a different way of doing business. Many will have found that this can be just as effective – and often more so – than the traditional nine-to-five at your office desk."
Almost a quarter of all workers (24 per cent) changed their normal arrangements, working from home or alternative business locations for some or all of the two-week period.
Three-quarters said they had worked more productively
These respondents had overwhelmingly positive reactions to report. Of those people who changed their working arrangements, nearly three-quarters said they had worked more productively as a result of the change. They reported that their productivity had increased thanks mainly to fewer distractions and disruptions (34 per cent) and less time spent commuting (32 per cent).
Over half of all workers surveyed stated that they would like to opt for flexible working on a more regular basis.
Less than half of all workers surveyed (48 per cent) felt they had been given all the equipment needed to work effectively while away from the office. Just under a fifth (19 per cent) of all respondents use their own hardware to work remotely, and more than one in five (22 per cent) said that they have to go to the office to work.
Peter Boucher concluded: "With the cost of mobile and broadband technologies coming down and initiatives such as 'bring your own device' (BYOD) offering further cost and management advantages, there are fewer and fewer reasons for businesses to tie staff to their office chair. Productivity is best measured by results achieved, rather than by the amount of time spent in the office each day."
