Office Life Attractions
August 14th, 2008
The Fading Attractions of Office Life
O2 (the mobile telecoms company) have recently surveyed small businesses about their working arrangements so I read in one of the nationals earlier this week.
The article made interesting reading and reported that O2’s survey, conducted amongst 530 small businesses, found that 50 per cent of the companies contacted; do not work in a formal office environment. Of this 50 per cent, 24 per cent did have an office but spent most of their time working remotely or from home. A further 18 per cent had made the transition to this style of working within the last few months.
The survey also found that almost two thirds of companies that are still working from fixed offices, plan to give them up and move back home within the year.
The main reason apparently is the credit crunch, spiralling fuel and therefore commuting costs and the rising cost of office space.
Who can blame them?
Give the availability of low cost technology include high speed broadband, WiFi, VoIP and mobile internet I’m not surprised this is happening. Couple a home based business with a professionally designed web site which is suitable for small businesses and hey presto; who’s to know (or care) where a business is based so long as it delivers a professional job to its clients.
We as a company maintain a number of virtual workers who base themselves at home. Regular readers of our blog will also note that we have one employee who splits her time 50/50 between our Heckmondwike office and her home: although this is for ‘childcare’ reasons and not the ‘credit crunch’.
