‘Men nearly twice as likely to work from home’

Almost twice as many men as women work from home, according to a TUC analysis for National Work From Home Day.

The TUC says around 1.1m men work from home compared to 659,000 women. People from a BME background are also much less likely to get homeworking – just 4.3% of BME employees compared with 6.5% of white workers. And older workers are much more likely to work from home, with 7.5% of 40-59-year olds homeworking but only 3.4% of 20-29-year olds.

The TUC points to one likely reason for the disparity in the figures: managers are nearly twice as likely to work at home compared with the average employee, with 11.9% doing so. It’s not necessarily because of the nature of the job either. The figures show administrative workers have a slightly below average chance of working from home (5.2%), even though their work is now largely computer-based. Moreover, only 1.7% of “elementary” jobs are currently homeworking.

Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the TUC, says: “Not every job can be done from home, but employers need to stop saying “no” to so many of those that can.”

The TUC says homeworking is growing, but the pace of growth is too slow. It says there are 373 thousand more employees working from home than 10 years ago, a 27% increase. However, it estimates that four million more people want to work from home at least some of the time but aren’t given the chance.

While it sees managerial attitudes as the main barrier, it says lack of access to fast broadband and falling home ownership are also factors.

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