Work Commute Time Averages 27 Days per Year

Thursday, August 15th, 2019

Gisela VilaBack to blogs >

Is your business expanding? Or is your office short of space? If so, maybe you should look at teleworking or homeworking; millions of businesses take advantage of the significant savings that can be realised by both the employer and the employee. Today around 1.6 million people in the UK work from home, an increase of 241,000 over the last decade, this represents 6.1% of the total UK workforce.

Thanks to broadband, the Internet and the cloud, working from home or the road is easier than ever. With Unified Communications (UC) technology using high quality audio and video and other features to ensure a smooth communication, employees can work and collaborate with colleagues from anywhere while engaging efficiently with customers at any time.

There are no rules or exclusions on who can work from home or who cannot. Any business, regardless of its size or industry, can benefit from teleworking. At the same time, any employee could work from home, if they have the necessary communication tools for successful teleworking.

The objective for all managers is to enable their team to work more effectively, productively and efficiently. The home working option may provide staff with a better work life balance, enabling them to be a more productive member of the team, particularly if they no longer have to spend 52 minutes each way driving to and from work every day.

Some employees generally are happier when they work from home, which gives them flexibility, in terms of which hours to work and where to work from, being less likely to quit the job. Younger workers are the ones more attracted to the flexibility of working whenever and wherever suits them. Wherever your main location is, working from home using real-time communications tools will ease work in terms of productivity, allowing for more efficient with time-management. Telecommuting is great for creating flex time to accommodate a family's needs. Some companies allow their remote workers to set their own working hours as long as the job is done.

A business you should keep in mind the cost of working in an office. The average cost of flexible office space in the Liverpool Area per person per month is between £150 and £300. Hiring remote workers brings the company some cost savings, by not needing a dedicated desk in the office for those workers.

It's also important to bare in mind the amount of money on commuting, a 19.1% of UK workers annual salary goes to commuting. Workers in the North West have the longest commute of any region, travelling for an average of 54 minutes each way, over a distance of 33 miles. This lost time is worth £6,431 a year, equivalent to just under a quarter (23.5%) of the average annual salary in the North West - the highest proportion of any region.

Mark Bull, CEO of Randstad UK, highlights: "Maximising work on the go - through the use of modern technology like tablets - can help to recover this lost commuting time. Efficiency is key. And as our commutes get longer, flexible working is coming into its own - helping workers to reclaim some of their lost time and maintain a better work-life balance. This, in turn, encourages them to work harder, and stay longer in a role".

The latest cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools make it is easy to efficiently conduct business from anywhere, at any time. Unified Communications delivers all the features organizations expect from a traditional phone system, plus a full suite of Unified Communications services including video conferencing, instant messaging and presence. All delivered in the form of a flexible, reliable and affordable cloud-based service. Gain a competitive edge in today's global economy. Join thousands of businesses and millions of individuals all over the world who are profiting from teleworking. Save money, time and be more effective using Temovi Unified Communications within your company.

For more information on Temovi solutions contact us or call us on 0151 650 6322 Teleworking Ebook