ways2work > How to do it > Re-thinking commuting > Reducing commuting through ICT > Suitable organisations
Suitable organisations
Size
Teleworking is available to organisations of all sizes. A CBI survey in 2008 found that half of the public and private organisations they surveyed offered teleworking to staff, a rise from 14 % in 2006. John Cridland, the CBI's Director General said:
"[There was] a sea-change in the labour market. The boundaries of the traditional 9 to 5 in the office or on the shop floor are becoming more and more blurred. … Using teleworking to take work out of the workplace has become very popular, and is also a useful way to avoid a laborious commute, balance family commitments, and even reduce carbon emissions."
A later CBI survey in 2009 found that that the 50 % of organisations offering teleworking had risen to two-thirds.
Telework is particularly attractive to SMEs, who see it as a way to cut costs. A 2008 survey of SMEs for mobile phone operator O2 found half did not have offices, a quarter did have offices but worked from home, and a fifth had recently abandoned their offices. Two-thirds said they were considering giving up their office within a year.
Activity
Neither is the nature of the organisation's activity any barrier to teleworking. The actual work that someone does is more important than the overall work of the organisation. However, organisations who have historically had a higher proportion of teleworkers are banking and financial services, business services and IT.