AFTER years of false starts, tele-working has taken off, as new figures show that almost half the employees at some of Britain’s best companies do some of their work from home.

The proportion of staff working one morning or afternoon a week at home has more than doubled in the past two years, from 14.1% to 31.7%, according to research for The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2007 List published this week.

There is also a significant increase in those working from home for up to 1Å days a week. The figures are for the top 10 companies and the top two Best Big Companies in the survey.

One of the reasons why tele-working has taken off is the spread of broadband internet connections. Richard Wainer, principal policy adviser at the CBI, the employers’ organisation, said: “Technology is absolutely vital.” According to Pete Bradon, head of research at Best Companies, which compiled the report, the sharpest rise in tele-working has occurred in some of the most successful companies.

At Morgan Stanley, the investment bank, 48.1% of employees work from home for up to half a day a week, followed by 47.8% at Price Waterhouse Coopers, the accountancy firm. The percentage exceeded 45% at three other firms: Steer Davies Gleave, a transport consultancy, Nelson Bakewell, a property consultancy, and Benfield Group, a reinsurance firm.

Bradon said he detected a significant shift in attitudes: “The old-fashioned thinking was that working from home was just people trying to get time off. But these people tend to be more engaged and more productive. They think, ‘The company’s done me a favour here, I’ll do them a favour back’.”

He also pointed to the environmental benefits of working from home. “One day a week at home is 20% less fuel. If everybody in the country did this it would make a huge difference,” he said.

Results from the survey, which canvassed 148,645 employees, show that staff who are allowed to do some work from home find many aspects of their job more rewarding. The proportion of those who found their work stimulating was almost 80% among those who work from home for at least half a day per week, compared with 65% for those based entirely at the workplace.

When asked whether they were in their dream job, more than half (51.4%) of those who work from home for some of the time said they were, dropping to 39.9% among those who do no tele-working.

The pattern was similar when employees were asked if they thought their job was good for personal growth; if they felt they made a difference in the organisation; if they were bored; and whether they were happy with their pay and benefits.

Best mid-sized companies

1 (1) W L Gore & Associates

2 (2) Sandwell Community Caring Trust

3 (3) Pannone

4 (4) Beaverbrooks the Jewellers

5 - Hydrock

6 - Edward Jones

7 (5) Data Connection

8 (11) Deniplan

9 - Napp Pharmaceutical Holdings

10 (31) Heat

(2006 rank in brackets)

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