Working from home costing employees, survey finds

Working from home actually ends up costing employees money with businesses unwilling to cover the costs of creating a working environment in the home, a survey has found.

According to a study by Regus, two thirds of homeworkers say their employers would not provide any financial support towards equipping the remote workspace. More than 4,000 senior business professionals in the UK were questioned about homeworking and just 35 per cent of those said they had received some monetary help towards creating a home office.

This is even true within companies that actively encourage their employees to work from home; 82 per cent of respondents stated that most companies that encourage their employees to work from home do not cover all the costs of creating and maintaining a professional workspace.

Creating a suitable working space in the home is not cheap - the study claims that the average cost of doing so is around £2,000 per year. Indeed, a quarter (25 per cent) of respondents said they would have to spend an entire month's salary if they wanted to equip themselves with everything they needs to effectively work from home.

Upgrading broadband can be one such cost. A separate study from June revealed that almost three quarters (72 per cent) of homeworkers believed they are more productive in the office, largely due to poor connectivity.

With companies encouraging homeworking but not paying anything towards it, 43 per cent of respondents to the Regus survey said they think it is a ploy by businesses to cut down on their own overheads.

Richard Morris, UK CEO of Regus, commented: “The cost of furnishing a home office is substantial so if this expense is passed onto employees, companies could find themselves flouting health and safety laws as well as lacking the necessary insurance cover. Nevertheless, the financial benefits of remote working for both staff and employer are clear. By cutting commuting times and working more flexibly staff become more productive and more likely to remain loyal.”

For more working from home stats see our compilation of remote working statistics, started in 2022.