Could The Amount Of Hardware And Types Of Communication Technology Being Used Today To Permit Employees To Work From Home Signify The Demise Of The Office As A Workplace?
The Office for National Statistics supplies figures which tell us the total number of people in work in Great Britain. While there are regular variations in the monthly totals the figure tends to hover around the 29million mark. Various surveys of working practices and human resource themes have confirmed that the amount of staff who Work From Home the whole time is around three per cent of the total workforce. Over and above this there are some staff who Work From Home from time to time. A leading Government survey points out that seven percent of staff work at home once a week, five per cent do so once a month and six per cent do so less than once a month. The same survey shows that the three per cent figure has remained constant since at least 2002 but that the other figures are gradually growing.
The recent innovations in communication technology and the on-going expansion of the World Wide Web has brought about the dawn of the Internet Business and it would be safe to believe that many Online Jobs are being generated on the back of it. While new technology is apparent in workplaces throughout Great Britain it can often be challenging or expensive to replicate it at home. The survey which supplied the statistics above also compiles information on the hardware and technology being operated by those employees who Work From Home on occasions.
The survey reveals that approximately 82% of these employees use a PC, a laptop or a PDA, the new hand-held device which also act as a mobile phone. Seventy nine per cent of employees need a telephone or mobile phone and 78 per cent have a broadband internet connection. 7% are still getting by with a dial-up internet connection. The most interesting figure was that 47 per cent of employees were able to utilise a remote access to their office network. While 82% of employees have a computer, only 49 per cent claim to use a printer which would suggest that slow progress has been made towards the holy grail of the paperless office. Despite the launch of all the new technology 7% of employees still need a fax machine. As proof that not every job craves new technology or hardware, 8 per cent of respondents to the survey said that they utilised none of the items mentioned above.
The content of each job function is evidently a major issue in deciding whether to permit employees to Work From Home and the survey results would seem to conclude that there are many more jobs that entail occasional working from home than entail it on a full time basis. If the Internet Business wishes to provide all of its employees with the essential equipment to Work From Home, including remote access to its office network, then they can make all of their positions Online Jobs and benefit from the savings on the renting of office space. However the survey also tells us the fact that only 9% of those who Work From Home occasionally and three per cent of those who have never worked at home are convinced that they could do all of their Work From Home.
In conclusion, technology can help to allow employees to Work From Home but the whole concept is very task-specific and the survey results would suggest that a move away from the traditional office environment will be a trickle not a flood.
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