Hungary ranks last among 24 advanced and emerging economies when it comes to options for working from home, according to an online survey by market researcher Ipsos of employees who could be remotely connected to their workplace.
Only 8 per cent of respondents said they "telecommute" using stationary or portable computers, email, phone or online chat to work from home. Of these only 1 per cent regularly do so, 2 per cent occasionally in the evenings or on weekends, 3 per cent several times a week and 2 per cent once or twice a week.
The survey found that over a third of respondents would be willing to work from a remote location if their employer gave them the opportunity, though a further 19 per cent said their job requires them to be at the workplace at all times.
28% in Great Britain
Other European countries surveyed have a higher proportion of telecommuters in the workforce, including Germany and France with 12 per cent, 28 per cent in Great Britain and 31 per cent in Poland. The number of telecommuters in the US and Japan is also higher, at 26 and 18 per cent respectively. Emerging economy India's low rate of internet access produced a high figure of almost 82 per cent of its online workforce being able to telecommute.
Understand benefits
Regarding the pros and cons of telecommuting, Hungarians are among the most likely to agree that greater opportunities to work from home can help to keep talented women in the workforce instead of leaving temporarily or entirely to raise children. The same proportion of respondents, 51 per cent, agreed that telecommuting reduces stress by limiting the time spent commuting, though only 41 per cent said it improves the balance between work and family.
Asked whether telecommuters are more productive than those working at an office, one in four agreed. Concerns that telecommuting may increase social isolation, or undermine chances of a promotion, did not feature prominently among respondents in any of the countries surveyed.
With 62 per cent of Hungarians using the internet, the country is below the EU average of 67.3 per cent but closer to the EU's most connected member - Sweden, with 92 per cent - than to its least connected member - Romania, with 35.5 per cent.
