Globally 70 pc staff work at least 1 day/week away from office: Study

As much as 70 per cent of employees across the world work at least one day in a week away from office, signalling a major shift in workspace landscape globally, according to IWG survey.

According to a report by International Workplace Group (IWG) released today, "More than two-thirds of global employees work remotely every week, and over 50 per cent do so for at least half of the week, heralding a major reassessment of corporate real estate".

The emergence of this mobile workforce has been driven by technological change, globalisation and changes in employee expectations, said IWG, which is the parent group of leading workspace companies including Regus and Spaces.

Over 18,000 professionals from a range of different industries in 96 countries were surveyed in the IWG Flexible Working Survey..

The study found that every week 70 per cent of employees are working at least one day a week somewhere other than the office. More than half (53 per cent) work remotely for half of the week or more, whilst more than one in 10 (11 per cent) people work outside of their company's main office location five times a week.

"In India, the survey found that 58 per cent of employees work remotely from locations other than one of their company's main office locations," the statement said.

The survey highlighted that 40 per cent Indian professionals believed that their companies are wasting significant amounts of money through underused office space.

"People from Seattle to Singapore, London to Lagos no longer need to spend so much time in a particular office," said Mark Dixon, founder and CEO of IWG.

"We are entering the era of the mobile workforce and it is hugely exciting. Not just for individual employees, but for businesses too. This is a huge shift in the workspace landscape globally, and businesses are now looking closely at what this means for their corporate real estate portfolios," he added.