Home-working less stressful, but not without worries

The study by Durham Business School found that home-workers were concerned about missing out on what was described as "water-cooler networking" - where opportunities for moving up the ladder were talked about informally in the office.

However, despite such worries, the research revealed that working from home generally had a positive effect on employee well-being and "work-life balance".

While 43% of those who worked from home for most of the week said they experienced a "great deal of stress" because of their job, this percentage rose to 65% for employees who worked solely in the office.

At the same time, the study showed no difference between home-workers and office based staff when it came to their commitment levels at work.

Tom Redman, professor of human resource management at Durham Business School, who led the study, said: “It seems... that working from home is an antidote to the stresses of office-based working, but this may be at the expense of lower levels of support for career development."

'Realistic option'

His team studied the responses of 749 staff in managerial or professional positions in UK based "knowledge-intensive" industries such as consulting, media, and financial services.

The research was presented at the recent British Institute of Facilities Management conference, at Keble College, Oxford.

Nick Dines, head of communication at the British Chambers of Commerce, commented: "With advances in technology home-working is now a realistic option for many people.

"Where it is possible for companies to do so, managers should consider the option for their employees as part of a sensible flexible working programme. However, it does have to be recognised that for some businesses it will be much harder to facilitate and allow home working due to specific requirements and resource restrictions."

A report this month from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) - looking at how the world of work may change over the next decade - claimed that as many a 65% of employees could be home-based in the future, not only to improve work-life balance, but because of environmental pressures on business.