SOMERSET, N.J. - Mar. 22, 2004 - An international survey of commuters at two teeming transportation hubs – New York City’s Penn Station and London’s Liverpool Street Station – has shown that the 21 st Century dream is the opportunity to be able to work flexibly from home, the office or on the move. The Flexible Working Survey 2004 conducted by Netilla Networks found that 77% of the 165 people surveyed would jump at the opportunity to work from home if their employers offered it to them and that 86 percent felt that having the choice to work either at home or in the office was the ideal setup.

Stress, quality of life and enhancing relationships with their partners are the key factors for most workers keen for the chance to work remotely, with 80% claiming that it would make their job less stressful and 74% convinced that it would enhance their relationship with their partner.

One woman respondent said she was certain that it would perk up her love life as she’d at least have the energy to spend quality time with her husband if she didn’t have to endure such long hours and her daily commute. Over half of the commuters admitted that they felt long hours affected their relationship adversely, with one man saying his long hours at work is the reason he’s getting a divorce.

“This survey provides additional evidence of what we’ve believed all along – that we all seek the freedom to work whenever and wherever we want, whether it is at home when the kids are sick, at a hotel, an Internet café, or even a crowded railway station using a Wi-Fi network,” said Reggie Best, president and CEO of Netilla Networks, a leading global provider of SSL VPN and secure application access management solutions. “Thankfully, all this is now possible with Internet connectivity, a computer and a Netilla Security Platform at the employer’s headquarters. Just as importantly, Netilla incorporates advanced security safeguards to protect an employer’s network from viruses, worms and other threats that are spread over the Internet.”

The Netilla Security Platform enables employers to provide their workers with secure remote access to all of their business applications and files from standard Web browsers, with enterprise-grade security. Because remote users do not need to install any special software onto their PCs – a Web browser is all that’s needed – companies can deploy the system very quickly and cost-effectively to any number of remote employees.

Almost 70% of workers felt that if they were trusted to work in a flexible environment their productivity would improve. In addition, 67% of employees said that being offered the opportunity to work remotely would make them more loyal to their employer. Two women interviewed said they were actively looking for a new job, which could offer them flexible working conditions.

While the survey found that commuters on both sides of the Atlantic are strongly in favor of the option to telework (or flexible working), some interesting differences also emerged:

• Only 67 percent of U.S. commuters felt that the telework option would make their jobs less stressful, compared to 84 percent of the British commuters surveyed. Several American respondents noted that since they were managers, they felt they needed to be in the office to supervise employees.
• 81 percent of U.K. commuters surveyed said that flexible working would enhance their significant-other relationship, while 52 percent of U.S. commuters did.
• 87 percent of American commuters said they would miss the office social life if they worked from home all the time, while only 80 percent of British workers said they would. One U.S. commuter said he would miss the "intellectual capital" gained from interactions in the office.

The numbers backing up remote working are encouraging:

• Telework during 2002 grew by more than 20 percent in the U.S., with nearly 20 million people working at least three days a week outside the office – a level that is expected to double by 2007 (Gartner Management Update, 12/11/02)
• Employers can save over $5,000 per teleworker equipped with broadband remote access, according to a 2002 national survey by the International Telework Association (ITAC).
• By 2010, nearly 27 million Europeans will become new remote workers, or “e-Workers”, according to the European Union Emergence Project
• The UK will have the largest number. By 2005, in the UK, homeworkers will top 8 million. In 2001, there were 2.2m.