No 'trust' from employers as workers admit to 'slacking off' when working from home

Just under a third of UK workers have admitted to “slacking off” when working from home.  

This is according to research from CV-Library, a UK job board. The company found that 31 per cent do this when working from home.

Just over a fifth (21 per cent) say their employer does not trust them to work from home. Over half (60 per cent) say they are more likely to accept a job offer if remote working was included.

Research found that 18-24-year-olds are most likely to take things easy when working from home (58 per cent), followed by 25-34-year-olds at 44 per cent.

Employees said the top five distractions at home are:

  • Household chores, 26 per cent
  • The people you live with, 22 per cent
  • Childcare, 19 per cent
  • Other errands, 15 per cent

 

Lee Biggins, CEO and founder of CV-Library, said

When offering remote working to your employees, you must first consider whether you trust them to be responsible with this perk. Are they going to get distracted easily, or will it help to boost their productivity?

While some distractions are harder to avoid than others, make sure your employees have the technology they need to keep in contact with the office. After all, our research shows that Brits are more likely to accept a job offer if they can work from home and work-life balance is clearly a huge priority for professionals. It’s certainly a difficult time to hire right now and the pressure is mounting on employers to give in to candidate’ demands, with remote working being one of them.

If you want to keep hold of your staff and make them feel valued, then offering remote working might be the way forward. It’s a huge responsibility and one that you should only give to members of staff that you can trust to not abuse this power. But, it can definitely pay off and help you on your way to becoming an employer of choice!

CV-Library asked the opinion of 2,000 UK employees.

 

 

 

 

Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.