Research commissioned by accounting software company MYOB has found nearly half New Zealand's small- and medium-sized businesses have employees who work from home or away from the office.
The survey of more than 1,000 businesses was conducted by market research firm Colmar Brunton.
It shows 18% of employees work mainly away from the office and 28% report they work in part from home.
MYOB says a key finding of the research is that companies with employees working remotely were 43% more likely to have seen a rise in sales in the past year than those without remote workers.
MYOB's general manager of its business division, James Scollay attributes that to the positive contribution remote working makes in greater employee productivity and a reduction in transport costs.
He told Checkpoint that the latter was particularly significant since fuel costs remain top of the list of worries for small businesses in particular.
The research shows start-up companies are more likely to be using remote workers than longer established businesses and Mr Scollay says that gives them access to a talent pool that couldn't otherwise tap into such as women with young children wanting to return to the workforce.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2552899/inproved-business-results-linked-to-teleworking.asx Listen to more from James Scollay on Checkpoint
