The future workplace-homeward bound
It is the computer, more than any other development since the invention of paper that has had the largest impact on the way in which we work. With the evolution of Internet networking, the computer has eroded the geographic dependency of employers and employees alike. The dynamic attraction that the growing trend to "work away from the office" has already had is so important that teleworking (as it is called) has been branded as one of the most important contributors of future sustainable development. To understand how teleworking would play such as role and just what effect it would have, the IST project SUSTEL sought to identify the areas - and extent of the benefits through its pilot project. Productivity and expense, two areas that are of the utmost concern for any industry showed all round positive results. In regards to productivity, the study delivered surprising evidence that while productivity increased significantly, absenteeism declined. Moreover, teleworkers brought more creativity to their work, worked significantly longer hours and made overall, far fewer mistakes than did employees at the office. Expense wise, benefits were directly associated with the reduction of corporate overheads related directly to office space. Overall, the social impact of teleworking also received highly positive results, with employees reporting on improved health benefits related to job commuting stress reductions, a better quality of life and a work-life balance. The pilot project resulted in the development of teleworking assessment tools available over the Internet to assist companies who would like to evaluate teleworking modules for their environment. For more information please click: http://www.sustel.org/(opens in new window)