National Working From Home Day 2019 will be taking place on the 17th May 2019, and will form part of Work Wise Week 2019, which will be running from the 12th May 2019 - 18th May 2019. As articles from previous years have highlighted, this is an initiative organised by Work Wise UK, with the aim of promoting smarter and more flexible working practices
National Working From Home Day 2019
The official aim behind National Working From Home Day 2019 and Work Wise Week 2019 according to Work Wise UK is to "promote modern smarter working practices such as agile, flexible, remote and mobile working, as well as working from home. We invite Employers, Employees and the Self Employed to use their social media channels to say what they are doing to encourage smarter working referencing #workwiseweek and #nwfhd."
Working From Home: The Latest Statistics
The numbers of people working from home and engaging in remote working has increased enormously over the last decade, but has begun to slow in recent times as the levels of homeworking were largely unchanged last year compared with the year before. This is borne out by the latest statistics from the TUC, which are as follows:-
- The TUC estimate that around 1.6 million people now work from home in the UK, an increase of 241,000 over the last decade. This represents 6.1% of the workforce.
- 59% of those who work from home are men, and 41% are women.
- The region with the highest proportion of home working is the South West (9%), whilst the region with the lowest proportion is Northern Ireland (2%)
- In terms of sectors of the economy, those with the largest concentration of home workers are construction, IT, and agriculture. Agriculture has the highest proportion (23%), whilst accommodation and food has the lowest proportion (1%)
- Managers are the most likely to work from home (12%), whilst those in 'elementary occupations' such as cleaners were the least likely (2%)
- A greater percentage of those aged over 40 work from home, compared with those under 40
- In terms of those not currently working from home, around 4 million would like to work at least part of their time from home. Those who have at least 26 weeks service, are entitled to apply for flexible working.
The Benefits To The Economy Of Working From Home
Commenting on the findings, the Chief Executive of WorkWiseUK (the organisation behind National Working From Home Day 2019), Phil Flaxton stated: the world of work is “no longer confined to commuting to a place of work five days a week. During the past decade there has been a substantial increase in 21st-century employers who have embraced modern, smarter working practices, such as homeworking, to the benefit of their organisation and its employees. However, it is clear than even more employers need to follow their example by introducing new ways of working that reflect the changing world of work."
Frances O'Grady, the General Secretary of the TUC stated: "Lots of people would like to work from home but have not been given the chance by their boss. That’s a shame, because it can benefit employers as well as workers. Many bosses already recognise that homeworking can make staff happier and more effective, but other employers need to catch up. Trade unions can help negotiate homeworking policies that work positively for both employers and staff. The government can help by investing in broadband infrastructure so that every worker can get a high-speed connection at home and we encourage businesses and public services to include homeworking in job design and recruitment."
