Employers are being warned that 40% of their employees
won’t be turning up for work if Avian Flu hits the UK, and the
majority won’t be coming if there are rumours of an imminent
terrorist attack.
These are the findings of a street survey conducted amongst 200
commuters at a number of London train stations, carried out by the
team behind next week’s
Business Continuity
Expo show in London.
The survey also found that only a quarter of those that decided
to stay at home would be able to work remotely if their firm’s
network was intact, mainly because of a lack of remote working
facilities.
The fact that 40% would stay at home during an Avian Flu virus
should not shock too many employers, as the recommendation from the
government would be to contain the virus by reducing people’s
movement.
But the lack of remote working facilities is something that
employers should address, if their type of business could benefit
from it. Some of those questioned may have worked in sectors such
as retail though, which in most cases wouldn’t benefit from remote
working.
The survey also found that a quarter of the people interviewed
did not know who at work would inform them if a disaster had
struck, and almost half of the respondents were not aware if their
company had a business continuity plan in place.
Don’t rely on IT for business continuity
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