World Options talks commutes and comforts

World Options has been surveying the UK’s workforce to find out what people think of working outside the traditional office environment.

With many of its franchisees running their branches from the comfort of their own homes, World Options surveyed a range of people to find out what they thought were the perks and drawbacks of this style of working. It spoke to office-based staff and those who already work from home to see what appealed to them most and what would persuade office workers to make the switch.

Unsurprisingly, the lack of commute came out as the number one benefit to working from home, with 51% of home workers and 64% of office workers listing it in their top three positives. Being able to pick when you start and finish, wearing comfortable clothes and being able to work uninterrupted were also raised as perks of working from home.

The main downside that was raised was the potential for distraction from household chores and errands, but the survey found that the positive vastly outweighed the negatives among those questioned. More than 73% of office workers surveyed said that they would like to move out of the office and into a home-based working environment in the future.

Group CTO and Managing Director of World Options, Stewart Butler, offered his opinion on why working away from the traditional office environment seems to appeal to so many people. “There are many benefits to working from home, not just for employees but for business owners who are looking to cut overheads and provide staff with a better work-life balance. Today’s workforce is looking for a flexible career that fits in better with their life outside of work and businesses must adapt to this change, or risk losing the best talent to more forward-thinking businesses and self-employment.”

He also explained how becoming a World Options franchisee can offer many of the benefits of working from home. “A lot of our World Options franchisees have meetings with customers via online applications such as Skype which, again, is a sign of how technology has changed the business world and our ability to work from home. We no longer need to travel across town for a 30-minute meeting when it can be done via our computers and we can be more productive in our working day by reducing travel time, but still have that face-to-face communication with customers online.”

Established in 2003, World Options now has more than 80 franchisees across the UK and is continuing to grow its affordable shipping business with ambitious individuals.