A New Way of Working—to Work at Home Online

Imagine if your journey to work was from your bedroom to your living room. More and more people in the UK are doing their jobs at home.

Baz works as an engineer in a West London factory. He’s been an engineer since he left school—but he’s not very optimistic about his future. Heavy industry in the UK has almost disappeared. More people work in Indian restaurants than in steel， coal and ship-building put together! Baz also often gets fed up with his long journey to work. Whether he travels by car or by public transport， it can take up to two hours a day. His sister， Liz， works as an information technology trainer at a local college. Once every four weeks， she meets her trainees in person， but most of her training is done through IT technology. Baz’s wife， Helen， seldom goes to work at all. She’s a graphic designer for a London advertising firm. Once she’s got the children off to school(they have three kids)， she starts work in front of her computer screen. When she’s finished her designs， she sends them electronically to her director.

Most people in the UK， like Baz， commute to work and moan[抱怨] about it too! 20% of UK workers spend over an hour a day commuting. But an increasing number of people work as telecommuters， whether full time， like Helen， or part time， like Liz. Almost all of their work is done online or by phone. There are 2.2 million telecommuters in the UK， about 7 % of the workforce.

So what are the advantages? Teleworkers can save hours not travelling to work. “I hated my journey to work，” says Helen， “Waiting at rainy bus stops or stuck in endless traffic. Now all I have to do is to walk downstairs!” Not commuting also saves money—in the UK， transport is not cheap. Many teleworkers say that working from home is much less stressful—good news for both workers and managers as around six million working days a year are lost because of stress.

“Think how much a company can save in rent，

heating or air conditioning， taxes， maintenance[維修保養費用]…

it all adds up”， says Liz “Working at home can also increase productivity by 25%. And it’s much more environmentally friendly”.

So is telecommuting for everyone? “It was hard at first，” says Helen， “because our living room is also my office!” Although there are challenges， teleworking is increasing by 13% a year， not just in the UK but also in the USA. In Los Angeles， a hotel receptionist welcomes guests from her home 80 miles away! And meanwhile， Baz is still stuck in the traffic…