More britons opt to work at home
...ob function they are performing. Of course not everyone has tedious assembly work, but even employees with business related work can perform that function from home. A parent working from home will be able to watch their kids grow up, without having to put the kids in an institution. A lot of people have been able to raise their kids whilst doing their work. They’ll be able to catch the first step, first word or even show them how to plant a garden and watch the seeds sprout. The stress-factor is also a large one. It’s very stressing to take care of children, husband/wife, work, shopping, helping the kids with their homework, having a social network of friends and family and all the stuff that follows with a career and a family. To fit it all in perfectly is extremely difficult. The negative aspects of home-working: Not everyone is suited to work from home. It’s not everyone who has the commitment needed to work from home. But I am confident that the majority of people are able to work as individuals without much supervision. The police, farmers and people with similar jobs have to work at a certain level of independency. If we weren’t able to take initiative and produce on our own volition, where would our species be today? Still, some will be lured by the television or other activities and fail to get their job done. That is a fact. Some also believe that if you remove the “going to the office” aspect of working it will reduce productivity. Another point is that people seem to pull tougher loads when working as a team, and wont work as efficiently when they aren’t facing the encouragement and pressure of the workplace. There’s also a quite large set-up cost to be taken into consideration. The home worker needs PC equipment like Fax machine, an internet connection, printer, sufficiently powerful hardware to produce the required material etc. The people who are all for home-working state that it’s good for a family if the parents are working at home. Well, it works both ways! As the kids get older they’ll get increasingly annoyed of never having some privacy, with their parents being home all the time, they can never have some personal space. Some also believe that if children don’t go to kindergarten and other institutions they will lack the required social skills for when they begin at school. It’s healthy for young children to be with kids on their own age. Besides a lot of offices include possibilities to have employees children taken care of just above the office. Some will also miss the social relations that are earned at the workplace. Going to the pup with the colleagues from work won’t happen, because you’ll be a home instead. Also the company can’t be held liable for any accidents whilst the employee is working at home since it’s not an accident which has occurred at the workplace, and as such not the employer’s responsibility. We shouldn’t encourage people turning into cavemen, only having contact with where they work if they need new assignments. It’s healthy for people to get in contact with the general community, and that shouldn’t change. 3) To many people it’s a dream not having to traverse the distance to work every day. This dream has now become reality for the large number of people using the opting to work from home, which modern technology has made possible. It’s the end of mornings with panic, traffic jams and rushing home from work to collect children and do the daily shopping. To others it sounds like a nightmare. Some will miss the daily social contact with the colleagues on the workplace. Others know from bitter experience that they don’t posses nearly the amount of self-discipline required to determine their working day responsibilities themselves. 4) BritInsurance Group Memo To: Management From: Bjørn Froberg, Personnel Manager Date: December 19, 2004 Re: Possibility of home-working. A lot of employees have approached me with a wish for a working day at home. They all have a desire to spend more time with their families. Naturally I am always listening to our employees’ wishes because, as we all know, a happy group of employees is a productive one, so I looked into the possibilities of such a thing. There’s been large development in this area during the last few years. I am certain several of you have heard of the phenomenon. The employees who approached me were all of our most valued workers, and I think we need to consider this as a valid option. I know countless managers in large corporations who take days off to work at home to actually get things done, as opposed to taking meetings or phone calls or discussing football... There has been a lot of positive experience with home-working but if we were to implement it, it would be in the “scratch our back and we scratch yours” way. Meaning we would have to see some results, so that we are certain it doesn’t become rest and relaxation. I’ve spoken with various peo...