Abstract
This paper will begin with the subject of telecommuting and how it is evolving in today’s workplace. The research will help identify why telecommuting is becoming a popular subject and why it is desired for both employees and employers. Also to understand the differences of working in an office environment or telecommuting and what the outcomes may be. If employers and employees fail to have awareness of the challenges that come with telecommuting it can be damaging. Understanding the challenges to help employers identify if telecommuting is beneficial or negative for their employees. This paper has research of productivity, job satisfaction, and functionality of environment regarding the subject of
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More employees are converting to telecommuting due to a variety of reasons. “The current business paradigm shift recognizes that space and time no longer contractually define the mode and nature of work. Workers do not have to go to where the work is - instead, work is now sent to where the workers are - in homes, satellite offices, and neighborhood work centers,”(Nyaanga, 2012). Author Solomon makes a valid point in his article since many people do not want to do the daily commute five to six days a week. Not only does it waste actual work time, money for transportation, but also the convenience capabilities for employees. The convenience certainly applies to employees who do not live close to the office setting or live in a very populated area with heavy traffic.
Telecommuting Advantages
“For over 30 years, the workplace has undergone a series of transformations such as the integration of technology into business work design, product innovation, development, processes, performance, delivery, productivity, creativity, competitiveness, and worker flexibility,” (Nyaanga, 2012). Having the technology accessible to the Intel of employee’s homes enables more employees to have the capabilities
In mid-sized companies such as Q-tel, telecommuting is much more frequently used than work in office. According
Employers allow telecommuting for many reasons, including the ability to recruit better talent, decrease overhead expenses, increase productivity, expand the employee base to include those with disabilities (Anderson, Bricout & West, 2001; Lipin, 2010; Myungjung & So Hee, 2017), and to support
Justification The Bay Area is a traffic nightmare. The option to take public transportation, the CalTrain, for example, is a huge benefit and saves time and money. Telecommuting is also a great way to avoid the hassles of traffic and provide a flexible work schedule. Autonomy goes hand in hand with Telecommuting, with allowing people to have a flexible schedule. Also, it fosters a feeling of trust and encourages productivity and creativity.
A revolution is spreading through the world of work because of changes in information, technology and communication. Information and technology has lessened the gaps between individuals and it is no longer necessary for people to be in close geographic location to enhance working capabilities. Telework means working at a distance and technology makes this possible. Teleworkers are defined as employees or contractors who work at least one day per month; they are also referred to as telecommuters. Research shows that teleworkers work nine days per month at home with three hours per week during normal business hours. Teleworkers seek to blend work responsibilities and personal benefits to enable them handle their work better and life responsibilities.
Telecommuting has been shown to reduce absenteeism, improve retention, and reduce recruitment costs for the organization (Family, pg. 730). Increased employee moral is also a benefit associated with telecommuting (Professional Isolation, pg. 512). Offering this new benefit that is such a satisfier for employees will likely result in reduced turnover within the organization and higher productivity. A study found pubic employees who were satisfied with their telework/telecommuting benefits were less likely to leave their positions (Family pg. 732). With the reduction of office time, an increase in employee productivity is likely due to fewer interruptions from fellow employees (Lessons pg. 10). With telecommuting having benefits to both the employer and employee, this new policy should bring positive results to the
Friday Night Lights is a non-fictional book written by Harry Gerard Bissinger III. Bissinger wrote the book in 1990. Chris Weeden wrote that Bissinger said, “It’s my best book, my most ambitious book, but I knew halfway through it was going to have a very limited audience” (2006). Bissinger was in search of a town controlled solely by sports. Therefore, this search led him to the Permian High School in Odessa, Texas (the setting for the novel). Friday Night Lights shows how a struggling town uses its beloved high school football team to overcome racial problems, political disagreements, and an unprosperous economy.
Regardless of industry, location, and level of the corporate ladder an employee works, he or she never stops being an employee. The same can be said about not being at home either. With the same technology of being instantly connected to everyone, an employee’s personal life now constantly has his or her attention during the work day. Text messages, Facebook updates, and phone calls, all come into the work place from the outside in such the same matter as emails from work, reports needing to be done by the next morning, and calls from clients and employers find employees at home.
Today’s fuel costs have put a great deal of pressure on the commuting employee and they are looking for ways to cut corners. An alternative for work commute trips is telecommuting. It is obvious that there is a tangible savings by the employee if they are able to work from their home. The employer is concerned and rightfully so that managing resources through telecommuting is more difficult than managing traditionally.
In the 1990s Telecommuting became popular. (“Wikipedia”, n.d., para.1) It allowed a way for employers to have workers that still accomplished the day to day task necessary to run a business and also allowed employee’s to work without traveling into a dedicate office building or store. In today’s society, I have noticed that there are more job posting for software developers in the United States that offer working remotely versus working at an office building. The purpose of the dissertation is to find out the habits and work ethics of successful remote workers so that a hiring manager could target those traits while interviewing potential candidates for telecommuting work.
By researching about the forensic science career pathway, I have gained a better understanding of the skills and capabilities involved in being in the workforce. By researching and fulfilling my goal I have developed the social and personal capability because I had to communicate with a forensic scientist whom I have never met before. I have also developed the literacy and information and communication technology. I have done this by writing lots of emails and texts to Vanessa (forensic scientist) which involves literacy and technology. I chose to interview a forensic scientist for my goal.
According to the Globe and Mail, as of 2013, 23% of Canadian Companies offered employees the option to telecommute. A Statistics Canada study stated that in 2000, 1,425,700 respondents worked from home, where as in 2008 the number of people working from home was 1,748,600, a small but notable upward trend. Though numbers are only increasing slowly, more and more Canadians are working from home. The trend is particularly impacting university graduates, of who more than 1 in 5 work from home. Factors that have contributed to this trend include an increase in the type and availability of technology, the desire of today’s workers to have a better work-life balance, and the desire of companies to attract employees.
I have chosen the research topic, telecommuting because I have always been interested in the type of employment that can involve working from home. I am interested in knowing how it feels to not have a daily commute back and forth to work as well as how it feels to work in the comfort of your own home. I hope to make a traditional argument because I believe that every valid argument has the evidence to support it. During any heated argument or friendly debate I encounter, I look for evidence, I am not easily persuaded by the information I hear without proof.
It is important to note however, that this benefit is unevenly distributed throughout society. This is because people who require more sophisticated equipment or environments (assembly lines, construction areas, etc), have to be at their place of work and cannot operate from home.
Research Question: How does technology impact the work-life balance for employees? Null hypothesis: Technology integration helps organizations attain the objectives of employee work-life balance. My survey was concerned with how much technology has been integrated into normal work life. In addition, the survey was to study how this technology has affected the work life balance of employees. This survey seeks to evaluate the value of technology in terms of its relationship with the achievement of work-life balance. Although not all employees can use technology or possess sophisticated technological devices, it is important to pinpoint the need for integrating technology in company strategies for the purpose of achievement of work-life balance among employees. I believe my survey can prove this strong correlation between work-life balance and technology.
At the apex of the Nile’s waterways, an area that has been inhabited since the time of the Ancient Egyptians, is where Egypt’s capital city, Cairo, is situated. Being at the administrative forefront of the nation’s wealth and population, Cairo holds more control over Egypt’s economic, political, and social workings than any other city in the country. Being the business and social hub of the country, Cairo also boasts millions of residents. As a result of being so densely populated, Cairo faces the increasing concern of expanding slums and informal housing in poorer districts of the city. With the populations in these more impoverished communities increasing at an exponential rate, these areas are getting left behind in the city’s efforts to maintain and improve problems with transportation, sewage, garbage collection, and access to fresh water. These slums are a significant point of inequality in Cairo, and the people of these informal housing districts face many challenges of finding adequate residences, losing their jobs to privatization, and a government more focused on globalizing rather than considering the issues of the poor. The effects of globalization are driving the people of the informal housing districts further into poverty and state of inequality in comparison to the rest of the urban population living in Cairo.