UK says commuting is taking its toll on health and stress levels

Nearly half the workforce say not having the stress and exertion of commuting would make them feel healthier

Majority of employees say home working makes them more productive and the office is full of distractions

Working from home helps employees to feel ëgreenerí

British workers say that commuting makes them stressed and has a negative impact on their health, according to a study* released today by ntl:Telewest Business, part of the Virgin Media Group. The nation-wide poll revealed that almost half (48%) think that not having the stress and exertion of commuting would make them feel healthier.

The environmental impact of more people working from home is also gaining recognition among UK workers. More than half (52 per cent) of UK adults who could or do work from home believed that reducing their commuting made, or would make, them a ëgreenerí person. With the average daily commute to the office for British workers currently at 58 minutes[1], there is a strong case for this point of view. The results also showed that employees could potentially improve their work/life balance by gaining 13 or more days a year by home working.

Furthermore, 69 per cent said that home working would enable them to be more productive during the working day. When asked what their biggest distraction at work was, the top factors were gossip about social lives (20 per cent) and general banter (14 per cent). However, for the overwhelming majority the biggest impact of working from home is enabling people to spend more time with family (72 per cent) and save money by not commuting and having to buy lunch (65 per cent).

ìCommuting is a hassle for many people, especially for those who have commitments outside of work and need flexibility. No one likes a long journey and unsurprisingly people can feel stressed by long commuting times. As this survey shows, many people believe that they can fit much more into their working day when itís done at home,î said Stephen Beynon, MD, ntl:Telewest Business.

ìPeople appreciate that working from home can have huge lifestyle and wellbeing benefits. Yet 70 per cent of us are still chained to office desks. There is now a growing emphasis on family friendly work polices and recognition of the need for improved work/lifework balance for the UKís army of commuters,î he said.

According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) 5.8 million of Britons work more than 45 hours a week, a high proportion by European Union standards. Employees who have the opportunity to work from home have much to gain from less time being spent on draining commutes.

ntl:Telewest Business recently completed the upgrade of its entire 13 billion network to next-generation speeds to help satisfy growing demand for digital services such as those used by home-based workers. The network offers the means to deploy converged services, offer resilience, operational flexibility and ease of use across the entire workforce, regardless of where individuals are working from. That makes home working realistic for many more organisations and their employees, creating the fabric for a happier, healthier and more productive workforce.

* GFK/NOP questioned 1,000 people nation-wide on behalf of ntl:Telewest Business.

[1] - www.racfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=458&Item...