The number of SME directors teleworking or working from home has doubled over the last five years, according to a survey by O2.
Today, nearly half (49pc) of SME directors in Ireland telework at least one day a month, up from 25pc five years ago, according to the survey of more than 300 SMEs which was conducted for O2 by Behaviour & Attitudes.
“The growth in teleworking by SMEs has been greatly facilitated by the continued uptake of services such as mobile broadband and O2’s new fixed line service for SMEs,” said Alan Brown, business sales director with Telefónica O2 Ireland.
Just over a quarter (26pc) of SME directors work from home more than four days a month, the survey showed, while 23pc say that the teleworking habit will rise in the future. A quarter of senior executives in SMEs who don’t currently use mobile broadband are also considering using it, according to the study.
Reasons to telework
Of those SMEs who telework, one in five say they get more done in the absence of office interruption, while some 15pc say they do it to concentrate on major projects, such as proposals or reports. Only 3pc say they do it to save time in traffic.
“We may be witnessing a perfect storm of better mobile office solutions, more flexible attitudes to working and the need for greater productivity, which is creating this upsurge in teleworking,” Brown said.
“The research would indicate that senior SME executives are seeing the benefits that teleworking can offer them in terms of convenience, productivity, cost effectiveness and control.”
According to the research, just over a quarter of the SME respondents who telework now run their business entirely from home.
Article courtesy of Businessandleadership.com
