Going bananas in pyjamas: Teleworkers do overtime

According to the latest research from Mori, almost half of employees with laptops work more than 45 hours each week - seven hours above the national average.

But far from resenting it, 85 per cent said it hadn't increased their stress levels, while two-thirds of respondents said mobile working had upped their productivity.

The research, sponsored by laptop-maker Toshiba, looked at the effects of mobile technology on work patterns in the UK.

Pundits have been talking about the rise of teleworking for over 20 years, but as of yet large scale mobile and teleworkforces have failed to develop. Figures from the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) show that just over five per cent of the UK workforce - 1.5 million people - spend a significant amount of time working from home.

Ursula Huws, associate fellow at the IES, said that according to ongoing research, one in 10 European employers make use of laptop technologies. She concluded reductions in the price of technology and telecoms, as well as a change in work practices, all combined to make mobile working increasingly prevalent.

Richard Scase, professor of organisational behaviour at the University of Kent, said the figures show the UK experiencing a sea change in attitudes to mobile working.

He told silicon.com: "The UK is increasingly becoming an information economy. People are working with their brains, so there is less and less justification for keeping them in the workplace."

However, Scase added that the moves to new ways of working still faced widespread management opposition.

"The potential of laptop technologies prevented from being fulfilled by a culture of management which says we don't trust you unless you come in to work every day. We have to change that if we are to realise the potential of new technologies that enable people to work from home," he said.