Flexible working increasing across Europe

Flexible working is on the rise across Europe with large numbers of employees now working remotely or from home for at least part of the working week, says a survey. Plus other news from this week’s papers.

Workers across Europe are becoming increasingly mobile, combining work in the office with home and remote working, says a report in Personnel Today. 
The report cites the 2007 Flexible Working Survey by facilities management firm Johnson Controls. It shows more than 60% of staff questioned worked flexibly with 35% saying it was not important for them to go into the office at all. 
The number of people working from home has risen by 16% in the last five years and the number working remotely has grown by 21%. Some 67% of staff said this flexibility had improved their relationship with their managers and co-workers. 
The findings are backed up by the CBI/Pertemps Employment Trends survey which also shows a big rise in flexible working. The survey of over 500 firms found that remote or home working had increased four fold in three years. 
Peter Thompson, director of the Future Work Forum at Henley Management College, told Personnel Today magazine that flexible working increased workers’ productivity.
However, the survey showed more than a third of homeworkers felt isolated and thought working from home damaged their promotion possibilities. 
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US mothers benefitting from flexible options
 
Many professional working mothers in the US are benefiting from flexible working which helps them balance work and family life, a survey has found. 
The survey of over 700 managers, conducted by management consultants Accenture, found 54% were benefitting from flexible work options. Half of those surveyed favoured telecommuting as a way to balance home and work life and 37% had this option already. 
Of the flexible options on offer, the majority of women favoured flexi-time. This rated above part-time work. Some 31% of those surveyed preferred to work full time and 95% felt their employers were understanding of childcare issues. 
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High-earning mothers likely to read less to their kids 

High-earning mothers are less likely to read to their children, according to a report in the Telegraph this week. 
The report says research by the publisher Pearson and the Booktrust charity found that 69 per cent of women earning between £30,000 and £50,000 read regularly to their children, compared with 74% for mums earning between £10,000 and £20,000 and 84% for those earning less than £10,000. 
However, the survey also found that fathers often shared book reading responsibilities in higher income households. The Booktrust is keen to encourage more dads to read stories to their children. 
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