Financial firms wise up to flexible working during London 2012

Travelling in and around the Capital is bound to be difficult, and in areas such as the Canary Wharf financial district as many as 80% of office staff are expected to work from home rather than trust their luck in the vagaries of London public transport.

Businesses and Olympic organisers have been working together for months to set up flexible working arrangements so the wheels of industry continue to turn. In addition to allowing staff to work from home, people are being encouraged to use some of their holiday entitlement during the games. Some firms are even prepared to relocate their employees to a different site for the duration of the Olympics, just to ensure they do not lose any business.

The main Olympic stadium is in Stratford, less than three miles away from Canary Wharf. 92% of the people employed there rely on public transport to get them to their financial firm every day.

The headquarters of HSBC is home to 8,500 London employees and a spokesman said the majority of them will either work from home or be temporarily relocated to another site.

Transport for London thinks it is preposterous for the banks to make alternative working arrangements for their staff and a spokesman for the Canary Wharf Group said he was surprised that so many employees would stay away. He said the Group had worked alongside TfL to make sure Canary Wharf remained open for business and they would be putting on events and big screens to entertain people in the evening so they don't need to rush home at the end of the working day.

But are they missing the point? Do workers really want to remain near their workplace after a hard days slog? Letting employees work from home has to be the better solution so that they too can enjoy the benefits that we freelancers have long enjoyed. Who knows, City firms might find the system works so well that they adopt it into normal business practice!

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Image: Aftermath by Joel Bedford