February 2024
Featured in this insight: Business & enterprise
Nine in ten small and medium-sized businesses have at least one member of staff working from home: A new survey by BT has found that UK SMEs (small and medium-sized businesses) are upping their use of cloud services in a bid to provide more flexible working conditions for employees, with nine in ten (91%) SMEs having at least one person working from home.
The research, conducted by BT Business and the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), surveyed over 300 decision-makers in SMEs to find out more about their flexible working practices. Findings highlighted that 19% of businesses said over half of their workforce works away from their main office location. The BCC said the results are directly linked to growing cloud service use.
In addition, the survey found that 69% of businesses use cloud services and 53% described them as “critical” to effective remote working. When looking into the core elements required to facilitate flexible working within the business, internet connectivity was highly rated on the list (63%). Furthermore, smartphones have been seen as the biggest difference maker for businesses in the past 12 months, according to 68% of respondents.
Adam Marshall, executive director of policy and affairs at BCC, said: “It is vital to ensure that UK businesses have access to world-class digital infrastructure if they are to maintain their competitiveness in a global marketplace”.
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