An independent survey of 4,500 employees commissioned by mobile network and business comms provider Orange has found that telecoms and IT companies are increasingly practicing what they preach when it comes to flexible working.
The survey, which was conducted by YouGov, found that 39% of businesses in the ICT industry offered their employees the option to work from home, beating the media and marketing sectors, and law, finance and banking, with 31% and 26% respectively.
Predictably, industries that depend on presenteeism, such as transportation, manufacturing, hospitality and retail scored lowest.
However, the results of the survey do not yet reflect last month’s legislation which expanded the right to request flexible working to cover over 10 million Britons with children aged under 16, paving the way for massive take-up of mobility and unified communications solutions.
Orange UK vice president of business Paul Tollet said businesses had no need to be scared of introducing flexible working options.
“[It] doesn’t have to involve significant financial investment, just a clear policy to ensure it is offered fairly and a willingness to provide employees with the tools they need to get the job done,” he said.
The survey also uncovered a worrying disconnect between HR and IT departments, with 50% of employees who were part of a flexible working scheme grumbling that they weren’t being given the right tools in terms of laptops, dongles and the like.