There's no place like home: Technology contributing to growing trend of
employees working at the 'home office'

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/778245

 From the March 19, 2004 print edition of the The Business Journal of
Milwaukee BUSINESS SERVICES, HUMAN RESOURCES

by Becca Mader



Improved access to technology such as broadband and wireless devices has
helped propel a 40 percent increase since 2001 in the number of people
working from home in so-called "teleworking" arrangements.

The Dieringer Research Group, a Milwaukee marketing information and
consulting company, found in a recent survey of businesses that more are
allowing employees to be "teleworkers" -- defined as people who work from
home during business hours at least one day per month. Technological
advancements, money-saving opportunities on office space and the desire to
retain valued staff are all factors in the trend, the survey indicated.

"What you've seen in the last few years is more of a focus on telework as a
way of helping companies conduct business more efficiently and effectively,
both for companies themselves and for their employees," said Bob Smith,
executive director of the International Telework Association & Council, a
Silver Spring, Md.-based trade association.



Savings for employers

Providing broadband for an employee at home can save a company up to $5,000
per teleworker per year, based on saved office space as well as increased
productivity, according to Smith. AT&T has saved about $25 million a year
in real estate costs by using full-time teleworkers. Cell phones, instant
messaging and Web meeting collaboration software have all eased connections
and communication between company and off-site employee.

Technology providers have been creating more software solutions that are
helping the trend to grow, Smith said. San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco Systems
recently announced a suite that provides a more secure, seamless connection
between larger companies and their teleworkers. ExpertCity of Santa
Barbara, Calif., came out with a product for small businesses, called
GoToMyPC, which provides remote access to a person's individual computer
from anywhere, he said. Initially, the primary driver behind teleworking
was a desire to reduce traffic congestion and pollution, said Tom Miller, a
senior consultant with The Dieringer Research Group who has tracked
teleworking trends over the last 20 years. The Milwaukee firm conducted its
first study on the topic in 1985, a time when the term "teleworking" had
not yet been invented, Miller said. The study was sponsored by automobile
companies, whose executives wondered if the work-at-home trend would put a
dent in auto sales. Telephone companies
also sponsored those early surveys, as they were interested in the
potential changes to their industry, Miller said.

In the 1990s, the study found there were about 3.5 million employed
teleworkers. As more people outside of science-related fields and the
military began to use the Internet, the number of teleworkers began to
flourish. The Internet helped foster the rapid growth in the trend, as
workers could more easily log online to access their company's information.
Fueling the trend even further were cell phones, e-mail, instant messaging,
wireless devices and high-speed networks such as broadband, which made
connections from remote locations easier, Smith said.



Slow economy fuels trend

The slow economy of recent years also has contributed to the growth of
teleworking, Miller said. As many employers scaled down staffing and spread
the work among remaining employees, those employees working longer hours
for the same pay wanted more flexible work arrangements.

"Corporate America has recognized they are asking their work force to do
more, and they have been willing to trade flexible work hours to get the
job done," Miller said.

Smith said companies are more frequently providing the technology to their
employees, rather than making their employees buy the technology.

Accounting firm Wipfli, which is based in Wausau but has offices in
Milwaukee, has been offering teleworking arrangements to full-time and
seasonal employees who might have left the company for other employment
because they couldn't be in the office 40 hours a week, said Dale Muehl,
Wipfli's managing partner.

Kelly Kulaszewicz, an office manager for Wipfli, works 40 hours per week,
but part of the time she is allowed to work at home. Kulaszewicz spends all
day Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and three hours on Tuesdays and
Fridays at the accounting firm's Milwaukee office. The week's remaining
hours she spends working from home. She started splitting her time when she
was pregnant with her daughter, now 6 years old. Kulaszewicz said the
arrangement allows her to remain productive at work and still be actively
involved in raising her daughter.

"This works out really well from the standpoint that employees are able to
have the flexibility to do their job, and we are able to still have that
talent on our team," Muehl said.



More productivity

Menomonee Falls-based Medical Associates Health Centers started offering
teleworking eight years ago. Executives consider teleworking as an
effective employee recruitment tool. The physicians group has found that
employees who work from home are 10 percent to 20 percent more productive
than when they work in the office, said Bob Swanson, director of human
resources and past president of the Human Resource Management Association
of Southeastern Wisconsin.

"Where we can allow teleworking, and where it makes sense, we certainly
entertain it," Swanson said.

Some companies view it as a way to slowly enter a new market. In 1999,
Brookfield-based Celtic Advertising Inc. wanted to open a Chicago office.
Rather than incurring costs for office space, the marketing and
communications firm hired employees who lived in the Chicago area and
allowed them to work at home.

"It gave us the ability and flexibility to test that market," Brian Meehan,
Celtic vice president, said about the satellite location. In April 2003,
the Chicago location became a full office and separate agency called Celtic
Marketing Inc., which is now under different ownership.



Few work at home full time

Most teleworkers spend one or two days working from home and the rest of
the week at the office. Shirley Swiecichowski is among the exception. She
is employed as a medical transcriptionist for Medical Associates, but she
works the entire week from her town of Jackson home.

To do her job, she dials into the health center's telephone system and is
assigned her daily work of typing physicians' notes into a master system.
Not only is she spared the 30-minute commute to the Menomonee Falls clinic,
she also avoids in-office distractions and can select her own hours.

Telework is not suitable for all, however. Human resource experts suggest
companies evaluate the arrangement based on the type of work and type of
employee. Employees need to be highly motivated and organized to be
successful at teleworking, they said.

"People should understand that telework is a new way in which to work,"
said the Telework Association's Smith. "It's all about getting the work
done -- just in a different location."


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