BT says teleworking is working

It's just over two months since BT announced plans to convert about 10% of its 100,000 UK staff to teleworking. The response so far has been thoroughly positive. "We're not short of volunteers," reports Neil McLocklin, head of the in-house Workstyle Consultancy Group.

BT has long had staff working from home, but this new initiative was intended to both increase the numbers and bring more structure to the arrangements.

The company agreed to pay for furniture and equipment, as well as providing remote access to the necessary information sources. It has also been training line managers to handle potential problems, ranging from space planning questions to family conflicts.

One driving force behind this is the opportunity to dispose of surplus property across the UK. BT initially estimated it could save over £130M a year in accommodation costs, in addition to savings generated by cutting commuting costs and stress.

McLocklin says over 2000 employees joined the programme during July. Most of these are administrative, sales and project-based staff.

Elliott Chase