Telecommuting

Telecommuting or telecommunicating, does not necessarily involve geographic  relocation but symply involves working at home at least part of the time. In recent years, the number of workers who telecommunicate has increased dramatically. Telecommuting is thought to bring several benefits, including time saving from the avoidance of commuting as well as at-home child care, ease of working with multiple employers, access to jobs by disabled workers, ad lifestyle advantages.

The organizational benefits include recruiting advatages, lower costs in using part-time workers, increased ability to use skilled professionals on ad hoc basis, reduced likelihood of unionization, less need for office space, productivity improvements, better morale for those employees given the option of telecommuting, and employee retention. Some observers have asserted that telecommuters work more effeciently.

Nonetheless, there are potential problems with such arrangements, including control difficulties, career limitations related to lack of visibility, workers' concerns about missing opportunities, social isolation, less sense of belonging, and reduced loyalties to both employers and employee. There are other concerns about the security of confidential or competitive information when it is transmitted over telephone lines from to and from the telecommuter. Although encrypted technology may reduce such threats, security is a concern for some companies. Telecommuters also need remote-office and information technology support. In addition, some managers find it difficult to trust their employees to work at home without their supervision.

Source: Strategic Human Resource Management, second edition by Charles R. Greer