Transcript Telecommuting Summary Slide             What is Telecommuting Current Status Types of Telecommuting Impact to Individuals (possitive) Impact to Individuals (negative) Impact to Business Impact on Working Parents Impact on.

Telecommuting
Summary Slide
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What is Telecommuting
Current Status
Types of Telecommuting
Impact to Individuals (possitive)
Impact to Individuals (negative)
Impact to Business
Impact on Working Parents
Impact on the Disabled
Impact to Society and Environment
Impact on International Business
The Safety of Telecommuting
The Telecommuter Profile
 Telecommuting Technologies
What is Telecommuting
 “Telecommuting is the use of computers and telephones to
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enable an employee to work off-site and outside the
traditional workplace. This could include working partially,
like one to three days a week from home, or working
entirely at home corresponding when necessary with the
employer”
“Making use of information and communication
technologies to practice some form of remote working”
Telecommuting is moving the work to the workers instead
of the workers moving to work
Flex-work
Term was coined by Jack Nilles in 1973
Telecommuting centers
Current Status
 In 1995 9 million Americans telecommuted and in 2002
29.7 million
 28.9% of American businesses practice telecommuting
 15-20% growth annually
Types of Telecommuting
Cisco Systems classifies telecommuters in three types:
 Day extender
 Part-time teleworker
 Full-time teleworker
Impact to Individuals (possitive)
 More time at home with family (30 minutes - 2 hours/day)
 Money Savings ($150/month on clothing)
 Decreased sick time
 Increases pool of possible employers (not confined to
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small geographic area)
Improved morale
Improves relationship with supervisor by 43%
Improves quality of life 10 hours/week to spent with
family, personal growth activities, sleep, happier
Lowers stress
Care for people at home (kids, elderly)
Impact to Individuals (negative)
 Lack of social contact
 Do not participate in group projects
 Work hours become longer
 Difficulties balancing work and personal life
 Difficulties drawing a line between work and home
 Distractions
 Lack of assistance
Impact to Business
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Could utilize abilities of the disabled
Reduction of capital expenditures
Harder working employees
Increased productivity by 20 – 25%
Lower turnover rates
Cost Savings (AT&T saved $10,000/year from each
telecommuter and Merrill Lynch $10,000 through lower
absenteeism alone)
Safety issues from telework
Possibility of loosing control over employees
“Gratitude effect”
“Hoteling”
Impact on Working Parents
Impact on the Individual discussed above and,
 Allows parents to participate in school activities
 Care for the elderly
 Nursing mothers (feeding, pumping breast milk)
74% of telecommuting workforce are couples
Impact on the Disabled
 52% of the 54 million disabled Americans suffer from
mobility disabilities
 In 2001, $ 4.3 billion was spent out to Social Security
recipients (10 million young and disabled Americans
receive Social Security disability)
 U.S. Department of Labor introduced $2.4 million in
grants for telework programs administered by the Office of
Disability Policy
 New technologies help (infrared headsets, voice
recognition etc)
Impact to Society and Environment
 Savings of 1.2 million gallons of fuel per week for every
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10% of workers telecommuting (11% of energy in Japan is
wasted through delays)
Yearly Telecommuting Cost Savings in the US is estimated
at $23 billion
Less congested roads (road rage)
Fewer accidents
More free parking lots
Less cost in building and maintaining highways
People move away from the city creating areas of deforested land
May increase “cabin-fever” trips
Increase in high-tech waste in landfills
Impact on International Business
 Lower cost: cost in face-to-face meetings is 7 times more
expensive than conference calls
 Less time traveling (average time flying is 10 hours)
 Items described in previous slides also apply here
The Safety of Telecommuting
 Reducing risk of traffic related injury
 Children stay at home with parents
 Terrorist acts
 Employer is responsible for telecommuter’s safety
 Home safety inspections (fire, electrical, equipment, home
office space, air quality, accident sources)
 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
guidelines
The Telecommuter Profile
 Telecommuters earn on the average whitle colar worker
 Telecommuters work in small companies (65% in
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companies of less than 100 employees)
Telecommuters are concentrated in service industries like
health care (13%), education (9%),
architecture/engineering (8.8%), communications (8.8%)
Telecommuters are accountants, bookkeepers,
programmers (best fit jobs for telecommuting)
Telecommuters understand technology (or so we hope)
Telecommuters are self motivated, results oriented, self
disciplined and have good time management skills
Telecommuting Technologies
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Telecommuting usually involves all the elements of a
Computer Based Information System, including hardware,
software, telecommunications, data, procedures and
people:
Hardware: Computer, Printer
Software: Job specific
Telecommunications:Phone lines, Modems, Fax machines,
Videoconferencing equipment
Data: Access to databases
Procedures: Related to telecommuting
People: That make telecommuting happen (not only
telecommuters)