Remote working picks up on 2010
Aug 30 2011
“Remote working is on the increase”
Business has seen a sizeable shift to remote working in the past year, research finds.
Online business marketplace PeoplePerHour.com reports a 68 percent increase in the number of UK businesses hiring remote workers in the last 12 months, according to a study of more than 45,000 companies.
Nearly three quarters (71 per cent) of respondents cite flexibility and cost savings for employing non-office-based staff. Businesses claim they are saving 23 percent on staff costs due to this shift.
The review finds that the move to remote workers is not a temporary fad caused by the recession and rising costs, with almost 70 percent of businesses saying they definitely plan to continue using freelancers in the next year.
Almost half of the businesses reveal that the lasting benefit to their business of the recession is learning how to harness technology and the web to work more efficiently and cut costs.
Some 91 percent of business respondents report that the quality of work done by remote workers is as good or better than full-time staff.
PeoplePerHour.com founder Xenios Thrasyvoulou says, ‘Our figures show that businesses that were forced to recruit remote workers to save costs due to the recession and rising prices, have found that the benefits are so appealing that they plan to continue to use freelancers from now on.
'As a result of these changes, productivity of British business is increasing, and quality of work is improving.'