Sunjit Patel is a graphic designer

Sunjit Patel is a graphic designer with a well-known publishing company. He has lived in England since he was five. He lives in South London, and for the last three years he has been working from home. He prefers working from home because he can spend more time with his family and have a better work-life balance. Sunjit isn't alone: in Britain, there are 2.1 million people who work from home at present. In addition, about eight million people spend some time working in the home rather than in an office. This is almost twice as many as ten years ago.
This rapidly-growing trend towards working from home is the same in many countries. But what are the reasons for it? The main reason is technological: easy access to broadband and the availability of phone and video-conferencing. These enable people to use their home as an office in an efficient and cost-effective way.
Olher reasons for homeworking are the benefits to both employers and employees: office space is costly, so if an organisation can reduce its workstations, it may be able to move to a smaller site. Employees often work better at home: travelling to work can be very time-consuming and tiring. Many homeworkers save a lot of time if they don't commute and they can start the day fresher and therefore work more efficiently; parents with young children appreciate the flexibility that homeworking allows and are more relaxed.
Sunjit Patel says, 'I have been working from home since my son was born and have been really enjoying it. But, 1 can tell you that homeworking requires special skills like self-discipline and time management. I've known my boss and colleagues for a long time now, which really helps because you've got to trust each other. You also need to have regular contact, by phone, email or video conferences, and you need to make regular trips to your office. Otherwise you really miss out on the gossip and on the social side of work.'
Not everyone agrees with Sunjit though. This response to a query about homeworking was recently posted on the Internet: The only people who can work from home are those who do an unnecessary job. Can surgeons work from home? Ambulance drivers? Firefighters? If you can work from home full-time, you have a pointless job.' Fortunately for Sunjit and the 2.1 million like him, not many people think that way!