Why Telecommuting Is Becoming A Popular Subject

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.

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.

In mid-sized companies such as Q-tel, telecommuting is much more frequently used than work in office. According

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

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

According to Hess (2014), employers’ benefit from the cost saving from not maintaining large office buildings to house their employees and the employees benefit from saving money on travel, meals, and in some instances child care. Hess (2014) goes further and says that distractions usually found in a typical office environment (i.e. phone calls, office conversations, and the like) promotes more efficient work. Although there are inherent positives for the employer, there are also inherent negatives that a manager must face in order to promote a good work environment for the company and for the remote employee. Fallon (2014) gives four challenges that a manager faces managing remote employees. The challenges of Communication, Tracking Productivity, Employee Trust, and providing a Unified Company Culture are the four main issues that Fallon

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.

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.

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.

The company will save on heating, cooling and lighting. The lesser employees that are in the building the lesser the energy consumption will be. By telecommuting to work instead of using the traditional methods, companies have a great potential to save energy.

MedEx has reported having a high employee turnover rate and based on the employee survey, there are a lot of employees that are not happy with their work commute, lack of parking downtown, and the challenge of balancing their personal life with their work responsibilities. Telecommuting is a great way for the employer to address all these employee concerns. The incentive of telecommuting would eliminate the commute time and parking associated with the commute, allow an employee a comfortable work setting, and offer a more flexible schedule allowing for employees to deal with personal issues when needed (Young, 1991). As you can see, telecommuting would benefit MedEx since it would improve the employee- employer relationship by promoting employee

Many Interns are working full time at ISEC, performing the same duties as other non-Intern employees. Because of that, Recent Graduate Interns qualify for full benefits. Interns deal with the same day to day life issues as anyone else. For example, a contagious illness or an injury which, although preventing an in-office work day, does not necessitate work stoppage, if working from home is an option. Under normal circumstances an Intern would need to take leave, and miss work. They would have to pass off their work to somebody else, who likely knows less about the project subject matter. If he/she could telework the Intern could support their current mission and continue to work and stay in contact with their management team. Many employees enjoy health and fitness. If an intern had the ability to telework he/she could go on a run, lift weights, or do yoga and not need the extra time to drive to a gym, and shower if they are already home. Interns that have commutes of an hour or more can shave two hours off their time and dedicate that to their training and their projects. Within the Intern population at ISEC FDED, the benefit of teleworking would easily increase moral in the work force and increase our retain rate of new employees, with no cost to the organization. Productivity has been shown to increase, with the increased work-life

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.