"PART-time offices" are helping bridge the gap between work at home and work within a company for a new generation of smart workers. The trend has been highlighted by Kevin Rawnsley, chief executive of Regus Southern Africa, local subsidiary of the international office outsourcing group. Home-working is a global trend as modern technology makes work from remote locations a feasible proposition for many workers. For example, new statistics from Leicester University in the UK show: l In 20 years, the number of Britons working "mainly from home" has doubled - and is now 2,5% of the working population. l Of these, 69% are women. l 1 million people (3.5% of the work force) work partially at home (at least one day a week). l 64% of these are men and one-third class themselves as self-employed. l 40% of those based partially at home have degrees (twice the percentage of the work force at large). l 25% of the work force "sometimes" work from home. "Local statistics are hard to come by, but from the nature of enquiries to Regus it is obvious a growing number of South African companies experience highly elastic demand for permanent office space," said Rawnsley. "The flex-office or part-time office is the solution. You can expand and collapse office space to fit the requirements of home-workers who sometimes need to come to the main office. Or you can take an entrepreneur out of his garage or spare bedroom and give him a part-time office for those occasions when he needs a receptionist, boardroom and hi-tech facilities." Rawnsley says some overseas companies are revisiting their home-working strategies. Advantages include less commuting time, lower office overheads, fewer distractions from meetings, office noise and phones and a better career and lifestyle balance. The down side is lower collegial and professional support, a weakened sense of identity with the company and a reduced team dynamic. Says Rawnsley:"An expandable, outsourced office gives you a tight, highly contained working environment while smart workers are deployed at home. You then expand the configuration when all team members are brought in to share ideas." What about home-based entrepreneurs? "With a part-time office they avoid long leases and capital expenditure. They take space part-time and build up until they are ready for a full-time commitment."