With almost one million people commuting into London on a daily basis each spending almost one hour per journey it is no wonder many others seek to “escape the rat race” and by “thinking outside the box” choose to work in a different way.
Looking at the ten hours loss of production/revenue each week one might wonder why more do not use wi-fi and Bluetooth technology to tele-work, hot-desk or home-work from home/more local work centres or virtual offices though of course this depends on the nature of their jobs and services and the flexibility of their employers.
Beating the “train/tube journey from hell” by working flexibly and by using the internet, e-mail, telephone and video conferencing is surely a more efficient and effective way forward for many and with wi-fi technology, blackberry and Bluetooth has never been easier.
Salient thoughts are these to those who wish to work smarter not harder:
- UK employees spend nearly twice the time commuting as their European cousins;
- The average commute in the UK is 45 minutes to cover just 8.5 miles-an average speed of 11mph-the coach and horse was quicker and
- The congestion cost to UK business is £20 billion a year.
Also pertinent is the CO2 cost and the increased risk of accident, which other forms of communication avoid.
We support entirely the concept of flexible and tele-working and believe such need not mean loss of competitivity or economic disadvantage.
