Slashdot Mirror
Teleworking in the UK?
neiljt writes "As a UK-based IT worker living about a 90-minute journey from London, I am interested in the idea of working from home, or teleworking. In the UK, however, the take-up of this practice has been less than frantic. My own immediate plan is to find work at home here in the UK, however my ultimate aim would be to find employment, which gives me the freedom to live where I choose. What barriers exist to working in the UK for a non-UK (e.g. US) employer. What about a UK citizen living outside the UK working for a UK or US employer? (Feel free to substitute your country of residence)"
It would be interesting to hear both from employers who support (or would support) this model, and from employees who have successfully negotiated employment at home.
In general, have your experiences been positive? If you have had problems, how have they been resolved? And now that the technology has been available for at least 10 years, will teleworking ever take off in the UK?"
"The arguments will probably be familiar to most here, but I will state them anyway, just to be sure you know how I'm thinking.
Advantages for me:
- Save journey time of 3 hours per day
- Save travel expenses
- Save travel frustration (delays, crowds, mobile phone idiocy, etc.)
- Be fresh and alert when I start work
- Feel better at the end of the working day
- Be at work promptly each day
- Work in a pleasant/relaxed environment
- Ready access to my (large) technical library
- Cost savings
- Office space savings
- Improved productivity
- Increased motivation
- Reduced traffic congestion
- Reduction in total travel and therefore pollution
- Employer needs to monitor quantity and quality of work performed
- Internet connectivity (mine currently limited to 56Kb)
It would be interesting to hear both from employers who support (or would support) this model, and from employees who have successfully negotiated employment at home.
In general, have your experiences been positive? If you have had problems, how have they been resolved? And now that the technology has been available for at least 10 years, will teleworking ever take off in the UK?"
If you are willing to work for $8000/yr, I think you have an excellant chance. That seems to be the current rate for teleworking in the US now.
Advantages for me:
Save journey time of 3 hours per day - (I can sleep in an extra 3 hours)
Save travel expenses - (Forget the car, I can use my Snoopy slippers)
Save travel frustration (delays, crowds, mobile phone idiocy, etc.) - (I only have to trip over my dog)
Be fresh and alert when I start work - (Morning crack and coffee)
Feel better at the end of the working day - (I'm drunk by 0930)
Be at work promptly each day - (Work starts when I wake up... bitch)
Work in a pleasant/relaxed environment - (Did I mention my crack and coffee?)
Ready access to my (large) technical library - (Google)
Advantages for my employer:
Cost savings - (I can browse for porn at home)
Office space savings - (No need for a cubicle, I don't have to leave bed)
Improved productivity - (crack!)
Increased motivation - (I can say 'fuck you' to my employer and not be heard)
Advantages for society:
Reduced traffic congestion - (I'm a maniac driver, if I don't have to leave home no one will die due to my poor driving skills)
Reduction in total travel and therefore pollution - (When I soil my britches no one will notice)
There are a number of disadvantages and factors to consider, though none should be insurmountable. A couple might be:
Employer needs to monitor quantity and quality of work performed - (That's what webcams are for, watch while I surf porn sites, smoke crack, drink my coffee, and soil myself)
Internet connectivity (mine currently limited to 56Kb) - (My employer should cough up some dough so I can get a broadband connection so I can be more productive in my porn browsing)
Around lunch time when I leave the office I especially love to turn my speakers on full blast and execute a perl program that turns makes Mozilla go here 10 minutes after I leave.
I also make sure sure Xscreensaver is on with a password so my other coworkers can shut it off.
However I found my speakers in the parking lot with piss all over them after I did this. My boss permanently took awhile my priveldge to use speakers after that incident.
http://saveie6.com/
you have to do things to keep yourself from going crazy
Care to elaborate on the 'things' you have to do ? Do the voices in your head make you do them ?
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
"What barriers exist to working in the UK for a non-UK (e.g. US) employer.What barriers exist to working in the UK for a non-UK (e.g. US) employer."
1. Cricket: Learn the rules of this (supposedly) gentleman's game. And no, this is not baseball played with a smaller heavier ball. It isn't a chirping insect either.
2. Conversation: Folks in the UK are quick to note when you're being sarcastic. They're also a bit more relaxed, and can laugh at themselves. Not so high strung as the folks across the pond.
3. Beer: The local flavors are so different, and the temperature varies a lot.
4. Dating: More 'F' geeks around, more opinionated as well.
5. Football hooliganism: Forget NBA, this is the UK. Don't venture miles near a match, especially the big leaguers.
6. Getting online: is much more expensive, but lots better and smoother in the UK.
7. Driving, power voltage, frequency, etc..
A few more, but I'm in a rush.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
My theory about why it doesnt happen to much is the simple fact that most managers (not ALL) have no clue what their techies are doing, or what needs to be done.
I'm a network engineer, when things work, no one complains, if its broken, i get attention, but day to day, my boss has no idea what i do (come to think of it, neither do i....well, slashdot for one thing)
the simple fact is (to quote dilbert) your boss usually knows two things about you
When you arrive/leave.
What you look like.
Take those away, they have no idea how to judge you....
its not always the case (thank you allah, buddah elvis) but usually is.
all you are, is all you are, i'm so sorry for you.
And he probably wouldn't save that much travelling time. At peak times pavements can get so jammed it often takes 30 minutes or more to walk a couple of hundred yards.
Stephen
"Don't write down to your readers, the only people less intelligent than you can't read" - Sign on Newspaper Office Wall
... but I receive daily literally tons of e-mail offers about working at home, and for Real Money, That Really Works, you know?
Point 2 is fair enough, Point 1 can be easily taken care of by turning up at the office at random intervals holding a screwdriver or length of cat5 and muttering...
you must have some ninja talents to be able to sleep and finish your last minute report standing up sniffing the arm-pits of everyone around you.
I sure the URLs will be really useful - I'll look at them later once Neighbours has finished...
You could give a presentation without your pants on!
Never again!
Then you won't have to take the train into London, which means that there will be no opportunities for someone to be murdered under baffling circumstances, only to be revealed that the secret Davis-Harkinson plans are somehow involved, leading to a deadly knife-fight on the roof of the club car in the dead of night.
Is THAT what you want?
As a UK-based IT worker living about a 90-minute journey from London
So you live, what, 2 miles outside the city limits?
Thank you, I'll be here all week, you're a great crowd.
Jarius, is that you? What the fuck are you doing on slashdot, you're supposed to be working! GET BACK TO WORK, ASSHOLE!