Fifth of UK workers would take a pay cut to work flexibly

Flexible working can promote a healthy work-life balance

The UK's fourth National Work from Home Day today has spurred a number of IT firms to highlight the benefits of flexible working.

A new survey conducted by Citrix Online shows that 20 per cent of UK employees would take a pay cut in favour of a more flexible approach to the working week.

The survey sought the views of 500 employees and 230 small businesses employing up to 100 staff.

A better work-life balance topped the respondents' wish lists, with 35 per cent highlighting more control over their day as a top priority, followed by 21 per cent who said that saving money on travel was a key benefit.

Meanwhile, 81 per cent of UK small business owners said that flexible hours are key to business success, and 39 per cent would let their employees work away from the office if they requested the option.

The findings follow a government commitment on 6 April to give an additional four and a half million parents the right to apply for flexible working.

"It is especially encouraging that small business owners are demonstrating a forward-looking approach to flexible working, considering that they make up 99 per cent of businesses," said Citrix Online general manager Brett Caine.

Vendors in the unified communications space have used today to promote how their offerings can bring "seamless collaboration" to staff who need to work on-the-go and always be contactable.

"The benefits of seamless collaboration are becoming increasingly attractive: one contact number, the ability to be connected wherever you may be, and ultimately less travel costs," said Andrew Penn, business development manager at Siemens Enterprise Communications.

However, network specialist Telindus warned that businesses must consider security measures to protect their data when providing staff with remote access to corporate networks.

"With mobile and remote working becoming more popular, data leakages will present a big issue," said Telindus managing director Mark Hutchinson. " Organisations also need to roll out the right application performance and bandwidth support to ensure seamless connectivity for staff."