…the new staying in, 14% of us do it
A study by the Office for National Statistics has revealed that between January and March 2014, of 30.2m people in work 4.2m or 14% actively work from home. This represents the highest rate since 1998 when records began.
Of these the ONS found 1.5m were full time home-workers, running their businesses from their domestic residence whilst the remainder worked from home as well as alternative locations.
The survey also found:
- 35% were professionals
- 24% were skilled tradesmen
- 15% were senior managers
Of which
- 64% were self employed
And
- Construction was the most common occupation for men
- Child-minding was the most common occupation for women
The over 65s were most likely to work from home with school, college and university leavers least likely to:
- 38% over 65
- 18% 50-64
- 12% 25-49
- 5% 16-24
Regionally the South West and South East saw the highest proportion of home workers with Scotland seeing the least:
- 17% SW
- 16% SE
- 15% E
- 14% Wales
- 14% London
- 13% Midlands
- 12% NW
- 12% Yorkshire
- 11% NE
- 10% Scotland
In response to the finding Emma Jones, founder of small business network Enterprise Nation said:
“The number of people working from home has seen a dramatic increase over the last few years – and it comes as no surprise. Starting a business from home has never been easier.
“From where we’re standing, these people are not starting up out of necessity through lack of jobs, they are responding to new opportunities that technology brings and this will only increase as the number of satisfying, well-paid jobs begins to decline.”
Business Energy and Working from Home
We can bear out these findings; one of our most viewed pages is our guide to Working from home and Business Energy where we run down the key considerations for any homeworker when taking advantage of their status to secure a better energy deal.
Our top tips include:
- Registering as a business
- Ensuring your business usage is at least 50%
- Shop around, both for a domestic offer and a business offer and make the comparison
- Consider a change in profile and meter to take advantage of ‘cheaper’ energy
- Fix for longer on a business tariff to create certainty for your home and business
Join the revolution! For more information visit our guide to Working from home and Business Energy