Study Finds “Telework” Has Evolved into a
Mainstream Way of Working;  Now, “It’s Just Work”.

Bottom Line Benefits, Mobility, Role in Business Continuity,
and Employee Satisfaction Add to Overall Acceptance

Washington, DC, March 9, 2006, The Telework Coalition
(TelCoa, www.TelCoa.org ), the leading non-profit membership organization dedicated to promoting virtual, mobile, and distributed work, has completed a benchmarking study of employers in both the public and private sectors with large telework programs. These employers represent more than 500,000 employees and almost 150,000 teleworkers and mobile workers. Interviews with their telework program managers were conducted during the last weeks of February and first week of March, 2006.

The study, sponsored by Intel,  looked at how these large organizations addressed and overcame obstacles and objections to create successful programs that benefit both the organization and its employees through reduced real estate costs, increased employee retention, and a much higher rate of employee satisfaction.

“This is an especially valuable survey, because it drills down into the benefits, costs, challenges and unexpected consequences experienced by managers; much more than the census type research of employees produced to date”, said Jack Heacock, Senior Vice President of TelCoa.
“An important finding is that virtual work, mobile work, telecommuting, telework, or distributed work, whatever it is called, is now regarded as `Just Work’. Most study participants emphasized the importance of the mobility that telework enables when dealing in a global economy.  Whenever, and wherever the job can best be done, it gets done”, commented Chuck Wilsker, President & CEO of TelCoa. 

“As long as employees have a laptop, high speed Internet access, and a phone, they are in business wherever they are. And, with the convergence of these three technologies, whether a wireless equipped laptop with a VoIP phone, or a new generation PDA, work can be done from almost anywhere,” added Wilsker.

One point that was consistent throughout the study was that telework plays a significant role in business continuity and continuity of operations planning. Several participants who had employees in New York City on 9/11 or in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina mentioned how their employees were able to work immediately after these tragedies because of the programs they had in place.

The Telework Coalition hopes many other organizations will use this report as a guide for either starting a telework program or enhancing an existing one.

An executive summary of this study is available at www.TelCoa.org. 

A full copy of the report may also be requested by sending your name, email address, title, and organization to info@telcoa.org.

About the Telework Coalition
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., The Telework Coalition (www.telcoa.org) brings together a diverse array of organizations, companies and individuals with the common interest of promoting awareness and adoption of existing and emerging Telework and Telecommuting applications. The Coalition’s mission is summed up in its tag line, “Enabling virtual, mobile and distributed work through education, technology and legislation.”

Contact:
Chuck Wilsker,
The Telework Coalition
202-266-0046,ext. 101
chuck@telcoa.org