Benchmarking Study Press Release
Benchmarking 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
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 John Edwards, Chairman of the Telework Coalition
“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.
A full copy of the report may also be requested at the TelCoa site.
About the Telework Coalition
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
