Save the Treasury £15 Billion a Year and Work at Home

Yes you are reading the title correctly; it does say £15 billion. This was a report released a few days ago by Eric Pickles the Local Government Secretary. The reason for this is that by increasing the number of public sector working from home would reduce the amount spent on office space, cut sickness levels as well as potentially increasing productivity by around 15% according to the study. Working from home has become more and more favourable in recent years.

This is mainly due to the increase in the availability of broadband and smartphones making it easier to access emails and other important digital information that is vital for those who work in the office. As it stands at the moment, more than a quarter of the current workforce occasionally work from home with only 2.9% deciding to work from home full time. According to the report produced by Leaner and Greener, only a 5% increase in the amount of public sector workers opting to work from home would reach the savings projected in the study. It shouldn't be too hard to persuade people to work from home, would you prefer to work at an office desk sitting on a regular operator chair crouched behind a screen in a busy office or be able to have the freedom and comfort of working in your own home? I know which one I would choose!

As well as working from home Mr Pickles suggested that perhaps it's time that public services should share accommodation. This would save space and by designing a more space efficient area save money in the long run. The suggestion of working from home would also help to increase morale among staff. Having the freedom to personalise your home office, pick out your desired workstation, be able to choose your office or executive chair, and not have to think about all the people behind the screens could in turn help increase staff productivity and help to also save money.