Teleworking: Introduction |
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Imagine the reaction a royal adviser at the beginning of the twentieth century would
have received from their King, if they had approached him with plans to invest in a
major road-building construction programme.
“Show me the figures,” the King would have said. “So how many horses do we have? Over a million. And how many cars? A few hundred.” And the King would have made a mental note to find a new advisor. Thirty years later there were more than thirty million cars in the world. Now imagine a similar scene towards the end of the twentieth century. An advisor to the prime minister comes in with ambitious plans, which include massive investment to support teleworking. “Show me the figures,” says the prime minister. “How many tele-workers do we have and how many regular workers ?” The figures are produced: a few thousand teleworkers, compared with many millions in the labour market. “Let’s post-pone this issue,” says the prime minister politely. It is time for the prime minister to think again. Now, at the start of the twenty-first cen-tury (and about twenty-five years since the concept of telework first began to attract publicity), we know that this is an issue demanding attention. The number of teleworkers can today be calculated in tens of millions. Nevertheless decisions are often still made as if teleworking is a marginal phenomenon, and one which impinges on a far-away future rather than on present concerns. Postponement is still often the rule. Most important, the approach to telework is in many cases still based on concepts and ways of responding which were developed more than a century ago at the time of the first industrial revolution, and which are inappropriate for this new peri-od of dramatic change. from the Preface of the The High Road to Teleworking |
This site examines the changing nature of telework and offers a fresh approach to, and understanding of, this rapidly spreading phenomenon.
Spurred by developing information and communication technologies, new forms of work organisation and changing attitudes at the workplace, teleworking is quickly expanding into a great variety of flexible working arrangements. From tele-homework to satellite offices, from telecentres to transborder and offshore teleworking, from mobile working to the fast-emerging call centre sector, we try to explore the technological, social, company and economic factors at stake.
Vittorio Di Martino's The High Road to Teleworking gives a comprehensive overview of the different aspects of the subject. He also acts as the Moderator of the Readers' Corner, a user forum provided for opinions expressed by people interested in this expanding area.