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)"

"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

Advantages for my employer:

• Cost savings
• Office space savings
• Improved productivity
• Increased motivation

Advantages for society:

• Reduced traffic congestion
• Reduction in total travel and therefore pollution

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
• Internet connectivity (mine currently limited to 56Kb)

The above illustrates that some take-up of the teleworking approach would be in the everybody's interests, but I am frustrated at the lack of good quality resources I have been able to find on the subject. There seems to be plenty available explaining the concept, but very little in the way of actual assignments or contacts. Of course I may have been looking in the wrong places, so if you know better (and I hope you do), please share.

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?"

Comments

Re:My take on it...

[Anonymous Coward]

THEY DON'T DO SHIT DURING THEIR ENTIRE WORK DAY.

How does it feel to know that and at the same time being able to see that our economy is doing much better than yours?

You're just pissed because you worked 80 hour weeks for fuck all and got shafted at the last right-sizing. You useless fart knocker.

London Teleworkers...

[slashdotideo.ca]

I'm a freelance illustrator and web designer working from home in London. I'm new here (from Canada), and I've found it challenging so far. I'm pretty committed to home-working because we'll be having kids in a year or two, and we'd both like to be home with them. I've freelanced before, and I've always enjoyed the freedom, and the selfishness of being able to work for 8 hours straight without interuption. The downsides are the loneliness, the bouts of no motivation, etc. This stint has been especially difficult so far, because I'm suddenly in a new country with no contacts. If there are any other people working from home in London who would like to get together for a drink, e-mail me at slashdot@ideo.ca.

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