The Advantages and Disadvantages of teleworking to Employers and Employees

Essay by digsy March 2004

download word file, 7 pages 3.7

Teleworking is the practice of working at home or a remote location, using a means of communication to contact the workplace(in this case ICT). There are many reasons why teleworking is becoming more attractive to business, all of which will be outlined in this report.

Government research from 1996 has suggested that the numbers of people working from home increased rapidly through the 1980's to a total of 1.2 million. A report by the Henley Business School in 1997 said that there were already 4 million teleworkers in the UK. Various sources predict that up to one-third of all work will be done at home within 25 years. This picture is somewhat confused by the different definitions of homeworkers and teleworkers, but the overall picture is clear; home-based teleworking is becoming more and more possible.

This is mostly, if not wholly due to the ever-increasing development in ICT technology.

The use of specialist equipment such as computers and the Internet in the workplace has made teleworking a very attractive option for many companies. The findings from the studies mentioned above highlight this. In the 1980s, computers were less a part of everyday life, as not many people owned a personal computer. Nowadays, it is estimated that around 5 in 6 homes has 1 if not more computers. The increase in teleworking and the increase in the number of homes that own a PC are therefore very strongly related.

There are many questions then that one would ask about teleworking; mainly, what are its advantages? And why is it considered such a good move for companies to invest in its use? I will attempt to answer those questions in this report.

Advantages for the employee

Teleworking holds many obvious advantages for the employee, or teleworker. The most prominent advantage would...