WORKING full-time from home was almost unheard of just a decade ago.

But the number of people who have ditched the daily commute for the comfort of their sofas and laptops has doubled in the past eight years, according to figures released today.

Nearly 2.5 million employees now work from home, accounting for one in ten of all workers in London and the South East.

The main occupations of those eschewing office life are senior officials and those in managerial positions, taking advantage of their higher status. Most are self-employed, about two-thirds are men and the trend is growing at a faster rate among older employees.

The figures come from the Office for National Statistics, which uses the term “teleworkers” to descibe those working from home using a telephone and computer.

While 4 per cent of employees were teleworkers in 1997, the rate has now risen to 8 per cent of all workers.

Although 10 per cent of those employed in the affluent South East work from home, just 6 per cent of workers in the North East, Scotland and Northern Ireland have the opportunity — or the inclination.

The research found that home-workers have seized the chance bestowed by modern technology to have flexible and independent working days.

However, many who dreamt of idyllic days spent at home have found it brings distinct disadvantages. Some miss the banter with colleagues and daily gossiping around the water cooler, while others suffer from isolation and boredom.

The ONS report said that modern technology meant that it was becoming “increasingly feasible” for people to work from home or in other remote locations.

It said: “Developments in electronic networking now make it possible for people to work in other remote locations, such as neighbourhood centres, internet cafes, hotel rooms, clients’ premises, on trains and in cars.”

While 2.4 million people are teleworkers, about 3.1 million work from their own home or in different places using their home as a base. Most say that they could not work from home without using both a telephone and computer.

Ninety per cent of teleworkers are in managerial, professional, technical and skilled trades occupations, and aremost prevalent in the construction industry.

'YOU DO GET CABIN FEVER IN THE END'

Francisca Kellett, 29, a travel writer, has worked from her home in Camden, Town, North London, for about five years. She said: “I do feel like I’m going mad sometimes. I’ve started looking into hiring a shared office for a couple of days a week, it might stop me from talking to myself a lot of the time. There are advantages like working in my dressing gown and not having to catch the Tube, that bit is wonderful, but I didn’t expect to get bored by myself.”

George Rockett, 32, a publisher, has worked from his home in Hackney, East London, for a year. “My company previously had offices but now everyone works from home because of the high cost and inefficiency of offices,” he said. “But I do have to make the effort to get out at the end of the day, whereas before I’d be happy to go home. I now make a real effort to go out and see people, because you do get cabin fever by the end of the day.”

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