Given the choice, over half of employees would prefer to work in a 24-hour flexible office environment, a study claims.
The survey, by a market research company, found that a majority of workers thought being able to work at any time of the day or night would allow them greater freedom for other things – from socialising to looking after the family. Just over one in three rejected the idea.
A thousand office workers throughout the UK were interviewed for the research, commissioned by Regus Instant Offices. Young people and those from the North of England and Scotland were particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of working in a 24-hour environment.
Forty per cent of those surveyed would take advantage of 24-hour opening to start early and finish in the afternoon, and 12 per cent said they would like the option to work solidly until all their tasks were finished and take off the rest of the week. The remaining 38 per cent would work the same hours that they do now. One in five said they would use the flexibility to care for children.
Regus released the survey at the end of last month when it introduced a 24-hour working option at its business centres across the UK.
On the day the results were released, reports revealed that adults in Britain are working more intensively and for longer hours than at the beginning of the 1980s. Research by Kent University showed the average British household works seven hours more than 20 years ago.
The figures are likely to fuel the debate over the balance between working and home life – the subject of a new government campaign.
Source
The Facilities Business
