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Danny McLaughlin is Managing Director
of BT’s Major Business Unit,
responsible for sales, marketing
and service to BT’s corporate
and government customers. |
BT has been a champion of flexible
working since 1992 and today around
63,000 of the company’s workers
have the ability to work remotely.
Some 7,500 of its staff work from
home on a permanent basis using advanced
information communication technology
from networks through to application
services. Although this has meant increased IT
costs for the company, BT has found there
are many benefits to flexible working,
including increased productivity, reduced
office costs, and the retention of valuable
expertise. On a national level, for example,
one in three mothers do not return to
work after maternity leave, but in BT
98 per cent come back; a recent employee
survey revealed that BT’s flexible
workforce are more positive about their
jobs than their office-based colleagues;
and absenteeism in the corporation is
less than half the UK average. In 2001,
flexible working also saved BT £9.7
million in fuel costs alone.
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