Office for National Statistics reports record levels of home workers
According to a report published last week (4th June) by the Office of National Statistics, a record number people classified as home workers were calculated in the period January-March 2014.
13.9 per cent of people in work, equating to 4.2 million people, now work from home, the highest number since records began in 1998.
5 per cent of workers (1.5 million) work either at home or within its grounds while 8.9 per cent of workers (2.7 million people) are based at home but work in alternative locations some of the time.
Since 1998 the numbers of people working from home has increased by 1.3 million from 2.9 million people. Conversely, the same period has seen an overall increase in the number of people working in the UK.
The majority of home workers are employed in higher skilled roles than workers who do not or are not able to work from home. Of the 4.2 million home workers calculated in 2014, 14.8 per cent are managers or senior officials, professionals or associated professionals account for 35.2 per cent and 23.5% work within skilled trades. Almost three-quarters (73.4 per cent) of home workers therefore are amongst some of the economies highest skilled personnel.
The tendency towards high-skilled roles is reflected in home worker earnings with home worker salaries equating to an average of £13.23 per hour as opposed to other workers who average £10.50 per hour, 51.9 per cent within the same occupational categories.
Occupations within the construction industry account for the majority of roles for male home workers, whereas women’s top roles are within the childcare and general care sectors.
Home workers are more likely to be self-employed, 63 per cent, as opposed to non-home workers of which only 7 per cent are self-employed. A third of home workers are company employees with the remaining small percentage working unpaid within a family business.
The South West leads the way in terms of home worker numbers at 17.1%, whilst north of the border in Scotland only 10.7 per cent of people work from home.
Posted by The Secret Businessman