NATIONAL WORK FROM HOME DAY

More people than ever are working from home in the North East, but the region has the lowest level in the UK.

Thursday (May 15) is National Work from Home Day when up to five million workers are expected to work from home across the UK.

According to TUC research, although the North East has seen the number of people working from home grown by a quarter in the last decade, it has the lowest proportion of home workers in the UK and this is why the North East was the first region to adopt the flagship Work Wise North East campaign as there was a greater need.

Over 100,000 workers - 9.3 per cent of the regional working population - are now based at or usually work from home. If figures for employed people who are normally or permanently based at home, but not self-employed, are analysed, the North East has seen a massive 44 per cent increase over the same period. 

Across the UK, nearly 3.5 million people now work from home - 12.2 per cent or one-in-eight of the population - an increase of 600,000 since 1997. The highest proportion of home workers is in the South West with 15.7 per cent, followed by Eastern England with 14.4 per cent. The lowest is in the North East with 9.3 per cent, followed by Scotland with 9.4 per cent.

Using figures for employed people only (excluding self-employed), the highest growth in the past decade has been seen in Northern Ireland with 85 per cent, followed by London with 55 per cent and Eastern England with 45 per cent. The highest proportion of home workers is in the South West with 6.8 per cent, followed by Eastern England with 6.2 per cent. The lowest is in Northern Ireland with 3.8 per cent, closely followed by Scotland with 3.9 per cent. The UK average is 5.1 per cent with growth of 36 per cent over the last decade.

"The benefits of working from home, even occasionally, are now widely accepted," said Simon Roberson, chairman of Work Wise North East.

 "Not only does it reduce the amount of commuting people have to do, enhancing their work-life balance, but almost all are actually more productive.

"Although many organisations practise the age-old philosophy of 'presenteeism', they should open their eyes to the new work ethic spreading across the UK and try out home working: they may well be surprised. 

"Its great that the North East has seen such a huge growth of people working from home in the last decade but we still have some way to go to catch up to other regions who are ahead of the game when it comes to smarter working practices.  This is why it was so important for the North East to embrace the Work Wise campaign" added Simon

Kevin Rowan, regional secretary of the TUC and Work Wise partner said "In the North East we haven't endured traffic congestion for as long as other regions have, we have also had a very traditional industrial base.  Both of these features are changing dramatically, everyone is well aware of the need to respond creatively to the traffic hot spots and peak time congestion, and more and more workers and employers are hoping to take advantage of flexible working - including working from home.  As a result we are seeing home working in the north east increasing pretty rapidly, that's good for our traffic problems and the environment, and it's great for workers and businesses."

Home working is one of the smarter working practises being promoted through the Work Wise UK campaign, which is entering its third year. Others include flexible working, including condensed hours and nine-day fortnights, mobile and remote working. Work Wise regional partners include the TUC, BT, North East Chamber of C  mmerce, EEF, Nexus and One NorthEast. It aims to encourage half the working population, some 14 million people, to be offered smarter working by 2011.

To assist organisations wanting to adopt smarter working practices, Work Wise UK provides guidance and assistance through its website (www.workwiseuk.org) and via a national network of advisers, and offers a framework for organisations to work to, culminating in the award of the Work Wise Mark of Excellence.

Further information about Work Wise UK as well as on-line guides and material, and how organisations can participate in Work Wise Week, can be found on the website (www.workwiseuk.org).

ENDS

For further information, please contact: Sheila Chapman PR on 07732 827 486 scpr@btopenworld.com

Notes to editors:

A number of spokespersons are available for interview
Further information about Work Wise UK, useful guides and material can be found on the website www.workwiseuk.org.
Supporters of the Work Wise UK North East campaign include the TUC, NECC, EEF Northern, Dickinson Dees, Onyx Group, the Workplace Travel Plan Company, Government Office North East, One NorthEast, BT, Nexus, Association of North East Councils and Equality North East.

Work Wise Week Programme:

Thursday May 15th - National Work from Home Day

Friday May 16th - Environmental Benefits

Saturday May 17 & Sunday May 18 - Work Wise Weekend

Monday May 19th - The Impact on Transport

Tuesday May 20th - Employee Benefits & Social Impacts

Wednesday 21st May - Impact on Business & Productivity