Germans prefer telework to working in the office

For 72 % of German employees working from their home offices is either an imaginable alternative, a desire or has even become reality already. This is the finding of a survey carried out on behalf of the German Association for Information Management, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM).
According to this survey, 10 % of employees in Germany are currently working permanently or partly from their home offices. Another 62 % of employees would like to work regularly from their home offices, 41% of whom on some days per week and 21% even every day. Just 28% of respondents still prefer going to their traditional offices every day.

BITKOM president Prof. August-Wilhelm Scheer is convinced that both employees and businesses benefit from telework and flexible models of work. Employees could better combine work and family life and employers bind qualified employees permanently to their company. Furthermore, telework increases efficiency in particular in times of economic crisis given that commuting employees could save a lot of time and employers could reduce their office space through telework.

Women are particularly interested in working from home. According to the above survey, 75% of women in Germany would like to work permanently or at least partly from home or already do so. Among men this figure amounts to 63%. Just 37 % of men prefer going to their traditional offices every day and only 25% of women.

Among employees aged between 30 and 49 the desire to work from home is strongest. Three quarters of respondents from this age bracket would like to work permanently from home or are already doing so. Among those older than 50 years of age 72% have this desire. Among people aged between 14 and 29 years 58% would like to have their home offices.

Employers and employees should agree basic conditions for telework as a sound basis for a reliable partnership. Technical preconditions for setting up a home office, however, are relatively easy to fulfil, according to BITKOM: teleworkers need a computer, internet access and a telephone. Nowadays almost each office job could be easily transferred to a home office at low cost. GERMAN

Matomo