Many people nowadays work from home and this has been possible mainly because of the advancement of computer and internet technology. What are the effects on employees of working from home?
Sample Response
As the development of technology, working from home is not uncommon phenomenon nowadays. It is a trend of future working mode with both positive and negative effects.
From the positive perspective, it does benefit to the work-life balance. For example, employees do not have to spend their time on shuttling between their office and home. The saved time can be spent on their work or taking care of their families. Therefore, the pressure of their work and personal life can be alleviated to a certain extent. Another advantage is the flexible working hour which is conducive to staff's efficiency. It is more reasonable to arrange different kinds of work on different time section. Furthermore, conducting meetings with the customer from different time zone has become more realistic by this practice.
Form the negative perspective, the staff management is a big challenge to many companies. As staff remote to work from home, their managers cannot monitor what they are doing during the working hours. It would cause the lack of effective control and management to their staff. It would greatly impact on the normal run of a company and it is a great waste of human resource which is the last result employers would like to see. However, this concern can be address by utilising some technology or measures. For instance, the company can install the monitoring software in their staff's laptop to oversee working situations, such as, what software they use and which websites they are browsing during working hours. Furthermore, the strict management measure is a key too. Managers should conduct an effective communication with their staff and estimate the appropriate volume of work for the staff so as to ensure they are reasonably occupied by their work.
To sum up, working from home is good for work-life balance and the work efficiency. Nevertheless, it is necessary for employers to take effective measures to ensure employees to be under a good management, such as, installing monitoring software and assigning the reasonable volume of work to their staff.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Correct opening phrase Original: As Suggested revision: With Why it matters: Use 'with' to introduce the technological development accompanying this trend.
- 2. Add article Original: not uncommon phenomenon Suggested revision: not an uncommon phenomenon Why it matters: A singular countable noun needs an article here.
- 3. Use natural phrasing Original: a trend of future working mode Suggested revision: a future mode of work Why it matters: This wording expresses the idea in a natural English noun phrase.
- 4. Remove wrong preposition Original: benefit to the work-life balance Suggested revision: benefit work-life balance Why it matters: The verb 'benefit' takes a direct object in this structure.
- 5. Fix verb pattern Original: spend their time on shuttling Suggested revision: spend their time shuttling Why it matters: Use 'spend time' directly with the -ing form.
- 6. Use plural noun Original: hour Suggested revision: hours Why it matters: The general arrangement involves multiple working hours.
- 7. Clarify the people Original: staff's efficiency Suggested revision: employees' efficiency Why it matters: The plural possessive clearly identifies the employees whose efficiency improves.
- 8. Correct time phrase Original: on different time section Suggested revision: at different times Why it matters: Use 'at different times' for when tasks are scheduled.
- 9. Fix number and preposition Original: the customer from different time zone Suggested revision: customers in different time zones Why it matters: The general claim requires plural nouns and the preposition 'in'.
- 10. Improve collocation Original: by Suggested revision: through Why it matters: 'Through' more naturally shows how the practice makes meetings possible.
- 11. Correct typo Original: Form Suggested revision: From Why it matters: 'From' is the required preposition introducing this viewpoint.
- 12. Fix word order Original: staff remote to work from home Suggested revision: staff work remotely from home Why it matters: Use the adverb 'remotely' to modify the verb 'work'.
Suggested Rewrites
- As With
- not uncommon phenomenon not an uncommon phenomenon
- a trend of future working mode a future mode of work
- benefit to the work-life balance benefit work-life balance
- spend their time on shuttling spend their time shuttling
- hour hours
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response is strongest when explaining how remote work saves commuting time and improves flexibility, with a clear overall structure and relevant examples. Its main limitation is that the negative discussion shifts toward employers' monitoring problems instead of consistently analysing effects on employees. Prioritise developing specific employee consequences, such as isolation, reduced autonomy, or career progression, and explain each one through a clearer cause-and-effect chain.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response addresses several positive effects clearly, but much of the negative discussion focuses on company management rather than direct consequences for employees.
Develop each negative point around a specific employee outcome and support it with a clear explanation or example.
Coherence and Cohesion
The introduction, contrasting body paragraphs, and conclusion create clear overall progression, although some links within the management discussion are mechanical or loosely connected.
Organise the negative paragraph into distinct employee effects and use referencing to connect each cause directly to its consequence.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary covers work, flexibility, and management adequately, but frequent collocation and word-choice problems reduce precision and naturalness.
Replace awkward combinations such as time section, remote to work, and normal run with established workplace collocations.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex sentences communicates the main ideas, but recurring article, agreement, preposition, and verb-form errors weaken control.
Proofread systematically for articles and verb patterns, especially after modal verbs and in noun phrases with singular countable nouns.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Many people nowadays work from home and this has been possible mainly because of the advancement of computer and internet 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.