An increasing number of people work from home these days and stay in touch with their office using computer technology. What are the effects on employees of working from home?
Sample Response
As the use of the internet is becoming relevant and faster these days, many companies have sorted to let their employees work at home and stay in communication with their office. This set-up has huge positive effects on the employers and employees as it saves a lot of time and money in the long run. This practice is becoming popular in many modern companies which are using computers to run their projects. Working at home can save time as the employees do not need to travel long hours just to get to the office. This is a big advantage, especially if the company is far from home or if the company is based overseas. For example; people working in construction, medical transcriptionists, language tutorials and call centres can just submit their works through different internet based sites such as; Dropbox, Hightail, Yousendit and etc. As a result, a great amount of time is saved in the process. On the other hand, working off-shores can also save money since companies do not have to rent big offices and they can minimise the use of electricity, water and other important resources in running a business. They just need to invest in high-tech servers which in the end will be a great asset. These servers can also be accessed remotely by IT managers anytime that they want. As a conclusion, computer technology has a great importance and has big effects to save time and money if companies know how to take advantage of it. By offering off-shore works, companies and employees can now work hand in hand for having a productive environment while having close communications, and at the same time will add to company’s growth and success to this computer era.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Clarify internet development Original: is becoming relevant and faster Suggested revision: is becoming more widely available and faster Why it matters: 'Relevant' does not describe the intended increase in internet availability.
- 2. Correct verb phrase Original: have sorted to let Suggested revision: have started allowing Why it matters: The original verb form is incorrect for describing a growing company practice.
- 3. Use standard phrase Original: at Suggested revision: from Why it matters: 'Work from home' is the conventional expression for remote employment.
- 4. Use natural collocation Original: communication Suggested revision: contact Why it matters: 'Stay in contact with' is the natural phrase for maintaining workplace communication.
- 5. Use formal wording Original: huge positive effects on the employers and employees Suggested revision: significant positive effects on employers and employees Why it matters: 'Significant' is more suitable for an academic essay, and the generic plurals need no article.
- 6. Use concise relative clause Original: companies which are using computers Suggested revision: companies that use computers Why it matters: The simple present describes the companies' general practice more directly.
- 7. Add duration preposition Original: travel long hours Suggested revision: travel for long hours Why it matters: A duration after 'travel' requires the preposition 'for'.
- 8. Name the location Original: the company is far from home Suggested revision: the office is far from their home Why it matters: The office, rather than the company itself, is the distant physical location.
- 9. Correct transition punctuation Original: For example; Suggested revision: For example, Why it matters: The introductory phrase should be followed by a comma, not a semicolon.
- 10. Make list parallel Original: people working in construction, medical transcriptionists, language tutorials and call centres Suggested revision: construction workers, medical transcriptionists, language tutors, and call-centre employees Why it matters: Every item in the list should identify a type of worker in parallel form.
- 11. Use uncountable noun Original: works Suggested revision: work Why it matters: 'Work' is uncountable when referring generally to completed professional tasks.
- 12. Remove faulty semicolon Original: such as; Suggested revision: such as Why it matters: No semicolon should separate 'such as' from the examples it introduces.
Suggested Rewrites
- is becoming relevant and faster is becoming more widely available and faster
- have sorted to let have started allowing
- at from
- communication contact
- huge positive effects on the employers and employees significant positive effects on employers and employees
- companies which are using computers companies that use computers
Why this response received Band 5.5
The response clearly explains the time employees save by avoiding long commutes and supports this with examples of remote digital work. Its main limitation is task focus: much of the discussion shifts to companies' office costs and servers, leaving the effects on employees narrow and one-sided. Prioritise distinct employee-centred effects, such as flexibility, reduced commuting, isolation, or blurred work-life boundaries, with direct explanation of each.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The commuting-time benefit is relevantly developed, but the response largely shifts to benefits for employers and technology infrastructure instead of examining a range of effects on employees.
Develop two or three employee-centred effects, explaining both practical benefits and possible personal drawbacks of working from home.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress recognisably from time savings to financial savings and a conclusion, but the single paragraph, repetition, and misuse of 'On the other hand' weaken cohesion.
Use separate paragraphs for distinct employee effects and reserve contrast markers for genuinely opposing ideas.
Lexical Resource
The response has enough workplace and technology vocabulary to communicate its main points, but frequent inaccurate collocations and word forms reduce precision.
Use natural phrases such as 'adopted remote working,' 'internet-based platforms,' 'remote employees,' and 'work-life balance.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of sentence forms conveys most ideas, though errors in articles, verb forms, plurals, punctuation, and clause construction occur frequently.
Check article use and sentence boundaries, and revise long final sentences into shorter clauses with clear subjects and verbs.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
An increasing number of people work from home these days and stay in touch with their office using computer technology. What are the effects on employees of working from home?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.