Working at Home on the Rise
Uploaded by jimih4evr on Oct 31, 2011
ABSTRACT
The popularity and practicality of people living in and/or commuting to large cities in the 21st century is expected to yield to an increased number of home offices. Feasibility, advantages and disadvantages, for the economy, the environment, quality of life, worker productivity, and social aspects are discussed. An AT&T case analysis is included.
INTRODUCTION
Information technologies (such as PCs, multiple phone lines, fax machines, internet emails, office network systems, and videoconferencing) are making it possible for an ever increasing number of people to work from their homes. In 1998, the number of home offices was approximately 60 million, and it is predicted that by the year 2020, more than half of all workers in advanced information era societies will work, either out of their homes, or in decentralized corporate offices, i.e., out of the city (The Futurist, p53).
Our society is becoming more and more information-based with every passing year. No longer an industrial-based nation, people do not have to go to the manufacturing plant, for instance, in order to perform their jobs. If they have the necessary technological equipment, many people can now perform most, or even all, of their job responsibilities from the comfort of their own homes.
Personal Advantages
There are many advantages to working “in the comfort of one’s own home,” but, as with everything, there are trade-offs. One personal advantage comes via more flexibility in filing one’s income tax return. Working out of the home makes it possible to deduct various expenses that would otherwise not be deductible. Another tangible personal advantage involves forestalling the wear and tear of one’s automobile, i.e., less mileage truly translates into less upkeep and repair costs. Also, commuting into one’s spare-bedroom-office saves on the daily cost of gasoline typically needed to get oneself “downtown” (or wherever) to the office.
Other personal advantages include setting one’s own schedule (to the varying degrees that this is possible); not having to deal with commuter traffic twice a day (actually being able to sleep-in during the typical commute time); being at home to let repair persons in or sign for packages; and being able to take a twenty break and go pick the kids up from school, instead of going to grab a cup of coffee with one’s co-worker. However, one may begin to miss the coffee break with the co-worker, especially when the entire break is spent shooting the breeze, i.e., socializing. This is where the personal disadvantages come in.
Personal Disadvantages
Research shows that the vast majority of employees are more productive when they work out of their homes because they are removed from the distractions of meetings, telephones, and co-workers. But it also shows that, in general, the highest-level employees have trouble with staying out of the office (The New York Times, pF10). Perhaps they have trouble staying away because they haven’t yet been able to let go of the concept of having a centralized office or headquarters, etc. But it’s also likely that many people simply miss the social aspects of the workplace, be it the creative energy of a design firm, or the competitive drive of an investment firm.
Other social aspects gained from company office environments are more personal. Many people meet and make good friends at their places of employment, and it’s very common for men and women to meet their future wives and husbands while on the job. Even if it’s not a best friend or life-mate, many people thrive on the social interaction and stimulation from their fellow workers. And it’s certainly easier to get a date by asking someone to “grab a bite” with you after work, than it is to phone the object of your interest from your home office specifically for that reason.
Community and Environmental Advantages
Federal requirements, which mandate the reduction of air pollution from automobiles through the reduction of employee commutes, have been one of the factors helping to drive the telecommuting trend (Business Week, p152).
Reduced air pollution, as a result of commutes to and from large metropolitan areas, is definitely a notable advantage for any community.
All in all, the decline of congested cities will have a positive effect on several aspects of our environment. The most dramatic benefit will be reduced car exhaust fumes, which will result in less air pollution. Noise pollution will also be reduced (along with the stress, headaches, and anxiety it has been known to cause). Concentrated amounts of garbage and waste that large cities have to deal with will be reduced, as well as the environmental resources that have to be used to heat and cool large office buildings.
CASE ANALYSIS
The following case analysis is referenced from an article in U.S. News & World Report (p40) and an article in CMA – The Management Accounting Magazine (p13).
AT&T is one of the large corporations (along with IBM, General Electric, and Hewlett-Packard), that is behind the telecommuting trend. In 1993, the company became serious about reducing the size of one of its offices in Monterey Park, California. It gave up two of its four office floors, along with the desks that used to seat many of its executives and consultants. The executives, whose jobs naturally required them to spend time out of the office with clients, were told that new desk availability would be on a first-come, first-served basis. In other words, as John Coughlin, an AT&T employee put it, “If you weren’t in the office by 7 a.m. to get one, you weren’t going to have one.” This was the company change that caused John to move his office into the small study of his Manhattan Beach home.
Later, AT&T told the employees that when they weren’t working with customers, they should be working from their homes. AT&T refers to these employees as its “virtual office” workers, and reports that in just two years, the number of these employees went from 5,00 to 12,000 and accounted for nearly ten percent of its entire U.S. salaried work force.
The company’s primary goal for creating this change was to set up a situation that would give its employees every incentive to be in contact with their customers, instead of conversing with co-workers. Its second goal was to reduce company costs, especially real-estate expenses. The company estimates that it saved $80 million in office overhead expenses in just one year as a result of sending much of its sales force home.
There are expenses, of course. AT&T must provide each home worker with a laptop computer, a printer, a cellular telephone, and two additional phone lines (one for office phone and fax, and one to link the worker into AT&T’s computer network). However, none of this can compare to the real estate costs of leasing office space in prime city locations.
In addition to saving money by sending employees home, AT&T has reported that many of its workers show productivity gains of as much as 40 percent. This also adds favorably to the company’s bottom line.
AT&T’s Work/life Manager, Karen Sansone, says that the regional offices are encouraged to begin developing a telecommuting program (along with the employees involved) about six months before their lease expires.
Regarding John Coughlin and his at home office in Manhattan Beach, he confesses to missing the office birthday parties and the Super Bowl pools. Originally, he and his sales team would meet in person once a week to discuss strategy and promotions, but then they changed even that to meeting only once every two weeks, with half of the meetings taking place through conference calls.
While the AT&T Monterey Park office began downsizing in 1993, AT&T had previously introduced trial programs in telecommuting in 1989 in Los Angeles, and in 1990 in Phoenix. After the success of the trial programs, the company began to develop a corporate-wide telecommuting policy. Initially, because the practice of telecommuting was still new, AT&T needed to simply educate its employees about what the practice was and what it involved.
In these early experimental stages, AT&T encouraged its employees to try out the concept, with supervisory approval. In 1994, the company held its first nationwide employee telecommuting day. It conducted a call-in survey and found that 92 percent of the respondents favored the telecommuting practice. The most outstanding feature, as reported by the respondents, was the fact that telecommuting enabled them to better balance their work and personal life. Next, they reported satisfaction with their increased productivity.
The telecommuting option was just one option that AT&T was offering as alternative work arrangements for its employees. Other options included shifting one’s office hours and compressing one’s work week, but most employees were interested in the telecommuting option.
By the beginning of 1995, almost 28 percent of AT&T’s managers had begun practicing the telecommuting work style. The company found that its employees really wanted a better balance between their work and family lives, and that this provided them with a realistic method for achieving that.
Within the corporate telecommuting policy that the company created, there exists a telecommuting agreement that both the employee and supervisor must discuss and agree upon before a formal telecommuting work arrangement is set in motion. The company remains flexible though, and allows each business unit to custom-fit its telecommuting arrangement to meet its particular organizational needs.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
It is easy to see why large corporations and even mid-sized companies are eager to make use of telecommuting work situations when they can.
In the AT&T case example, telecommuting resulted in increased productivity from its workers, which translated into greater sales and revenues for the phone company giant. It also saved the company large operating expenses in the form of office overhead, administrative, and real estate expenses. These are two of the four listed benefits to telecommuting named in the CMA article (p15). The other two common benefits are decreased absenteeism (instead of losing an entire work day due to car trouble, for instance, employees can still work at home) and quality thinking time (working at home allows for deeper concentration without co-worker interruptions, etc.).
Efficiency of Labor
It seems an obvious assumption to expect that companies will continue to embrace the concept and practice of telecommuting. The efficiency of labor allows for increased productivity (for the company’s benefit) and more free and personal time (for the employee’s benefit).
And because of this, it is reasonable to assume that as a result of the increased decentralization of various businesses, companies, and corporations, the demise of concentrated populations, i.e., large metropolitan cities, is not far off.
Competition and the Global Market
Because the world market continues to condense into one world market, also referred to as the Global Market, many people are becoming more available to work for companies, that in the past would have been too far removed geographically, but are now realistic potential employers (thanks to the technology of home offices, etc.). This situation increases the competition for certain positions within certain companies, and allows the companies to select from among the most qualified candidates in the world, not just within its region.
In addition, nowadays, it’s becoming more and more possible for individuals to be self-employed by working out of their (technologically equipped) homes for companies anywhere in the world. These individuals don’t need to be in large cities in order to earn their livelihood; they can consult, analyze, graphically design, write, research, create, or produce right out of their homes (which may be located on a lakeside in the country, on a ranch in the Northwest, or near Palm Springs in the desert).
Impact on Environment
It seems that one of the most beautiful things that may be born, as a result of the predicted death of large cosmopolitan cities, is a more balanced and healthier environment. Not only will our air become cleaner (which in and of itself is a profound improvement), but our overall everyday visual environment will improve. Instead of each day having to look at soot-covered street curbs, trash cluttered sidewalks, and stressed people rushing to and from buses, cars, and buildings, an individual may enjoy the sights of his own backyard swimming pool, or his blossoming flower garden, as he works.
A more beautiful environment (clean air; nature’s noises, instead of horns and car alarms; and more natural scenery instead of concrete, concrete, concrete!) will surely aid the individual spirit. Perhaps worker health will improve, and even, eventually, worker morale, i.e., less apathy and cynicism.
Social Aspects
The social repercussions involved in the decentralization of companies and cities are great. Negatively, they can be seen as forcing somewhat of a more isolated existence upon many individuals, i.e., isolating them from the daily, and usually pleasurable, social contact with their fellow workers.
However, negative repercussions can also be related to productivity. It is this writer’s opinion that corporate managers and supervisors often fail to recognize the productivity that really occurs when co-workers shoot the breeze, laugh, or seemingly play around in the office. Often times, they are venting stress related to an actual problem with one of their accounts, customers, reports, etc. And quite often, it is an understanding co-worker who helps them work through their “snag.” In addition, group energy can be highly creative with regards to the stimulation of new ways of thinking, new ways of viewing issues, and new ways of solving problems. Office interaction among employees can, therefore, be quite productive.
CONCLUSION
The Global population is expected to double in the next 100 years, rising from 5.75 billion (in 1995) to approximately 12 billion by the year 2100 (The Futurist, p75). It is only common sense to prepare for such large numbers of people by beginning to find ways to “spread them out.”
The concept of telecommuting is already offering alternatives to congesting large numbers of people into small geographical areas each day (New York City is a classic example of this congestion). As the theme discussed and substantiated throughout this paper, it appears that the predicted demise of large metropolitan cities is “going to be a good thing,” if we are adequately prepared for the change.
In exchange for the social function that commuting to and working in an office provides, perhaps individuals who miss this aspect will reach out in their local communities. They may seek a different kind of social involvement by joining a mentoring program, volunteering at a nearby hospital, or taking swim classes. These choices will be much more possible, because the same telecommuting job that limits their social intercourse at work, will provide them with more free time to in which to join, participate, and become involved in other kinds of social activities.
WORKS CITED
Baig, Edward C. “Saying adios to the office.” Business Week, Oct. 12, 1998, p152(3).
Boroughs, Don L. “Paperless profits.” U.S. News & World Report, July 17, 1995, v119, p40(3).
Dickisson, Karin Hajek. “Telecommuting: got your homework done?” CMA – The Management Accounting Magazine, Dec-Jan. 1996, v70, p13(2).
Molitor, Graham T. “Trends and forecast for the new millenium.” The Futurist, Aug-Sep. 1998, p53(76).
Noble, Barbara Presley. “Nudging workers from comfy nests: AT&T pushes for telecommuting.” The New York Times, July 30, 1995, v144, pF10.
The popularity and practicality of people living in and/or commuting to large cities in the 21st century is expected to yield to an increased number of home offices. Feasibility, advantages and disadvantages, for the economy, the environment, quality of life, worker productivity, and social aspects are discussed. An AT&T case analysis is included.
INTRODUCTION
Information technologies (such as PCs, multiple phone lines, fax machines, internet emails, office network systems, and videoconferencing) are making it possible for an ever increasing number of people to work from their homes. In 1998, the number of home offices was approximately 60 million, and it is predicted that by the year 2020, more than half of all workers in advanced information era societies will work, either out of their homes, or in decentralized corporate offices, i.e., out of the city (The Futurist, p53).
Our society is becoming more and more information-based with every passing year. No longer an industrial-based nation, people do not have to go to the manufacturing plant, for instance, in order to perform their jobs. If they have the necessary technological equipment, many people can now perform most, or even all, of their job responsibilities from the comfort of their own homes.
Personal Advantages
There are many advantages to working “in the comfort of one’s own home,” but, as with everything, there are trade-offs. One personal advantage comes via more flexibility in filing one’s income tax return. Working out of the home makes it possible to deduct various expenses that would otherwise not be deductible. Another tangible personal advantage involves forestalling the wear and tear of one’s automobile, i.e., less mileage truly translates into less upkeep and repair costs. Also, commuting into one’s spare-bedroom-office saves on the daily cost of gasoline typically needed to get oneself “downtown” (or wherever) to the office.
Other personal advantages include setting one’s own schedule (to the varying degrees that this is possible); not having to deal with commuter traffic twice a day (actually being able to sleep-in during the typical commute time); being at home to let repair persons in or sign for packages; and being able to take a twenty break and go pick the kids up from school, instead of going to grab a cup of coffee with one’s co-worker. However, one may begin to miss the coffee break with the co-worker, especially when the entire break is spent shooting the breeze, i.e., socializing. This is where the personal disadvantages come in.
Personal Disadvantages
Research shows that the vast majority of employees are more productive when they work out of their homes because they are removed from the distractions of meetings, telephones, and co-workers. But it also shows that, in general, the highest-level employees have trouble with staying out of the office (The New York Times, pF10). Perhaps they have trouble staying away because they haven’t yet been able to let go of the concept of having a centralized office or headquarters, etc. But it’s also likely that many people simply miss the social aspects of the workplace, be it the creative energy of a design firm, or the competitive drive of an investment firm.
Other social aspects gained from company office environments are more personal. Many people meet and make good friends at their places of employment, and it’s very common for men and women to meet their future wives and husbands while on the job. Even if it’s not a best friend or life-mate, many people thrive on the social interaction and stimulation from their fellow workers. And it’s certainly easier to get a date by asking someone to “grab a bite” with you after work, than it is to phone the object of your interest from your home office specifically for that reason.
Community and Environmental Advantages
Federal requirements, which mandate the reduction of air pollution from automobiles through the reduction of employee commutes, have been one of the factors helping to drive the telecommuting trend (Business Week, p152).
Reduced air pollution, as a result of commutes to and from large metropolitan areas, is definitely a notable advantage for any community.
All in all, the decline of congested cities will have a positive effect on several aspects of our environment. The most dramatic benefit will be reduced car exhaust fumes, which will result in less air pollution. Noise pollution will also be reduced (along with the stress, headaches, and anxiety it has been known to cause). Concentrated amounts of garbage and waste that large cities have to deal with will be reduced, as well as the environmental resources that have to be used to heat and cool large office buildings.
CASE ANALYSIS
The following case analysis is referenced from an article in U.S. News & World Report (p40) and an article in CMA – The Management Accounting Magazine (p13).
AT&T is one of the large corporations (along with IBM, General Electric, and Hewlett-Packard), that is behind the telecommuting trend. In 1993, the company became serious about reducing the size of one of its offices in Monterey Park, California. It gave up two of its four office floors, along with the desks that used to seat many of its executives and consultants. The executives, whose jobs naturally required them to spend time out of the office with clients, were told that new desk availability would be on a first-come, first-served basis. In other words, as John Coughlin, an AT&T employee put it, “If you weren’t in the office by 7 a.m. to get one, you weren’t going to have one.” This was the company change that caused John to move his office into the small study of his Manhattan Beach home.
Later, AT&T told the employees that when they weren’t working with customers, they should be working from their homes. AT&T refers to these employees as its “virtual office” workers, and reports that in just two years, the number of these employees went from 5,00 to 12,000 and accounted for nearly ten percent of its entire U.S. salaried work force.
The company’s primary goal for creating this change was to set up a situation that would give its employees every incentive to be in contact with their customers, instead of conversing with co-workers. Its second goal was to reduce company costs, especially real-estate expenses. The company estimates that it saved $80 million in office overhead expenses in just one year as a result of sending much of its sales force home.
There are expenses, of course. AT&T must provide each home worker with a laptop computer, a printer, a cellular telephone, and two additional phone lines (one for office phone and fax, and one to link the worker into AT&T’s computer network). However, none of this can compare to the real estate costs of leasing office space in prime city locations.
In addition to saving money by sending employees home, AT&T has reported that many of its workers show productivity gains of as much as 40 percent. This also adds favorably to the company’s bottom line.
AT&T’s Work/life Manager, Karen Sansone, says that the regional offices are encouraged to begin developing a telecommuting program (along with the employees involved) about six months before their lease expires.
Regarding John Coughlin and his at home office in Manhattan Beach, he confesses to missing the office birthday parties and the Super Bowl pools. Originally, he and his sales team would meet in person once a week to discuss strategy and promotions, but then they changed even that to meeting only once every two weeks, with half of the meetings taking place through conference calls.
While the AT&T Monterey Park office began downsizing in 1993, AT&T had previously introduced trial programs in telecommuting in 1989 in Los Angeles, and in 1990 in Phoenix. After the success of the trial programs, the company began to develop a corporate-wide telecommuting policy. Initially, because the practice of telecommuting was still new, AT&T needed to simply educate its employees about what the practice was and what it involved.
In these early experimental stages, AT&T encouraged its employees to try out the concept, with supervisory approval. In 1994, the company held its first nationwide employee telecommuting day. It conducted a call-in survey and found that 92 percent of the respondents favored the telecommuting practice. The most outstanding feature, as reported by the respondents, was the fact that telecommuting enabled them to better balance their work and personal life. Next, they reported satisfaction with their increased productivity.
The telecommuting option was just one option that AT&T was offering as alternative work arrangements for its employees. Other options included shifting one’s office hours and compressing one’s work week, but most employees were interested in the telecommuting option.
By the beginning of 1995, almost 28 percent of AT&T’s managers had begun practicing the telecommuting work style. The company found that its employees really wanted a better balance between their work and family lives, and that this provided them with a realistic method for achieving that.
Within the corporate telecommuting policy that the company created, there exists a telecommuting agreement that both the employee and supervisor must discuss and agree upon before a formal telecommuting work arrangement is set in motion. The company remains flexible though, and allows each business unit to custom-fit its telecommuting arrangement to meet its particular organizational needs.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
It is easy to see why large corporations and even mid-sized companies are eager to make use of telecommuting work situations when they can.
In the AT&T case example, telecommuting resulted in increased productivity from its workers, which translated into greater sales and revenues for the phone company giant. It also saved the company large operating expenses in the form of office overhead, administrative, and real estate expenses. These are two of the four listed benefits to telecommuting named in the CMA article (p15). The other two common benefits are decreased absenteeism (instead of losing an entire work day due to car trouble, for instance, employees can still work at home) and quality thinking time (working at home allows for deeper concentration without co-worker interruptions, etc.).
Efficiency of Labor
It seems an obvious assumption to expect that companies will continue to embrace the concept and practice of telecommuting. The efficiency of labor allows for increased productivity (for the company’s benefit) and more free and personal time (for the employee’s benefit).
And because of this, it is reasonable to assume that as a result of the increased decentralization of various businesses, companies, and corporations, the demise of concentrated populations, i.e., large metropolitan cities, is not far off.
Competition and the Global Market
Because the world market continues to condense into one world market, also referred to as the Global Market, many people are becoming more available to work for companies, that in the past would have been too far removed geographically, but are now realistic potential employers (thanks to the technology of home offices, etc.). This situation increases the competition for certain positions within certain companies, and allows the companies to select from among the most qualified candidates in the world, not just within its region.
In addition, nowadays, it’s becoming more and more possible for individuals to be self-employed by working out of their (technologically equipped) homes for companies anywhere in the world. These individuals don’t need to be in large cities in order to earn their livelihood; they can consult, analyze, graphically design, write, research, create, or produce right out of their homes (which may be located on a lakeside in the country, on a ranch in the Northwest, or near Palm Springs in the desert).
Impact on Environment
It seems that one of the most beautiful things that may be born, as a result of the predicted death of large cosmopolitan cities, is a more balanced and healthier environment. Not only will our air become cleaner (which in and of itself is a profound improvement), but our overall everyday visual environment will improve. Instead of each day having to look at soot-covered street curbs, trash cluttered sidewalks, and stressed people rushing to and from buses, cars, and buildings, an individual may enjoy the sights of his own backyard swimming pool, or his blossoming flower garden, as he works.
A more beautiful environment (clean air; nature’s noises, instead of horns and car alarms; and more natural scenery instead of concrete, concrete, concrete!) will surely aid the individual spirit. Perhaps worker health will improve, and even, eventually, worker morale, i.e., less apathy and cynicism.
Social Aspects
The social repercussions involved in the decentralization of companies and cities are great. Negatively, they can be seen as forcing somewhat of a more isolated existence upon many individuals, i.e., isolating them from the daily, and usually pleasurable, social contact with their fellow workers.
However, negative repercussions can also be related to productivity. It is this writer’s opinion that corporate managers and supervisors often fail to recognize the productivity that really occurs when co-workers shoot the breeze, laugh, or seemingly play around in the office. Often times, they are venting stress related to an actual problem with one of their accounts, customers, reports, etc. And quite often, it is an understanding co-worker who helps them work through their “snag.” In addition, group energy can be highly creative with regards to the stimulation of new ways of thinking, new ways of viewing issues, and new ways of solving problems. Office interaction among employees can, therefore, be quite productive.
CONCLUSION
The Global population is expected to double in the next 100 years, rising from 5.75 billion (in 1995) to approximately 12 billion by the year 2100 (The Futurist, p75). It is only common sense to prepare for such large numbers of people by beginning to find ways to “spread them out.”
The concept of telecommuting is already offering alternatives to congesting large numbers of people into small geographical areas each day (New York City is a classic example of this congestion). As the theme discussed and substantiated throughout this paper, it appears that the predicted demise of large metropolitan cities is “going to be a good thing,” if we are adequately prepared for the change.
In exchange for the social function that commuting to and working in an office provides, perhaps individuals who miss this aspect will reach out in their local communities. They may seek a different kind of social involvement by joining a mentoring program, volunteering at a nearby hospital, or taking swim classes. These choices will be much more possible, because the same telecommuting job that limits their social intercourse at work, will provide them with more free time to in which to join, participate, and become involved in other kinds of social activities.
WORKS CITED
Baig, Edward C. “Saying adios to the office.” Business Week, Oct. 12, 1998, p152(3).
Boroughs, Don L. “Paperless profits.” U.S. News & World Report, July 17, 1995, v119, p40(3).
Dickisson, Karin Hajek. “Telecommuting: got your homework done?” CMA – The Management Accounting Magazine, Dec-Jan. 1996, v70, p13(2).
Molitor, Graham T. “Trends and forecast for the new millenium.” The Futurist, Aug-Sep. 1998, p53(76).
Noble, Barbara Presley. “Nudging workers from comfy nests: AT&T pushes for telecommuting.” The New York Times, July 30, 1995, v144, pF10.
There is an incredible new opportunity that is now available online.
ردحذفLarge companies are paying regular people for sharing their opinions!
You can collect anywhere up to $5 - $75 per each survey!
And it is open to anybody from any country!