Being able to spend more time with your family is the biggest single perk associated with working from home, according to one expert on the subject.

Ravi Mishra, technical marketing engineer for the IT firm Cisco, told the Economic Times of India that for staff given the chance to work from home the extra family time can be "valuable".

However, Mr Mishra also makes clear that having a home-based workforce can also be beneficial to employers, who can expect to increase the overall productivity of their staff.

Meanwhile, one home-based IBM employee told the newspaper: "I prefer working from home to the daily grind of cutting through traffic to get to office.

"It offers great flexibility of work hours as long as you finish your work."

Three-quarters of the British business managers polled by City & Guilds and the Institute of Leadership and Management recently said that flexible working makes staff more productive.