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Does flexible work have the capacity to create new
job opportunities and bring work to areas in need of regeneration?
There is growing evidence that it can.
In this section we will bring you news and
features about the economic development and regeneration impacts of
flexible work.
And we also will be offering advice and research
summaries for government agencies to help them adapt their policies
and improve their support services, so they can help to spread the
benefits arising from the new world of work.
What kind of opportunities should we expect?
The table below summarises key areas of opportunity:
|
Opportunities |
Examples |
| Opportunities for excluded groups
to take up work |
- Flexible hours can enable people with caring
responsibilities to take up work
- Home working enables people with mobility restrictions to
enter the labour market
|
| Bringing new work to remote areas |
- Home-based work using the new technologies can help to
reverse the flight of working age people from remote areas
|
| Diversification |
- With the decline in agriculture in rural areas, and
manufacturing in urban areas, work in the new economy can bring
jobs to declining areas, based at home in or redundant buildings
|
| Supplementary income |
- While over 2 million people work mainly at or from home, a
further million do so in second jobs
|
| Repatriating expenditure |
- People working more of the time in their home areas spend
money locally. and stimulate the local economy
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Some of these trends are in evidence already.
The key issue for economic development specialists is how to encourage
and support new initiatives and spread best practice.
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Articles in this section: |
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Under the Radar
A report from the Commission for Rural Communities
advocates a new and more dynamic approach to supporting
home-based business development in rural Britain |
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