Study Says Telecommuting May Harm Workers Left Behind in the Office
Timothy Golden, associate professor in the Lally School of Management & Technology at Rensselaer has just complete a small study of the office workers “left behind” in a telecommuting environment. While there have been many studies of telecommuters, this maybe (Tim asserts it is) the first study of the workers that remain in the work-a-day world of the office.
From the RPI announcement:
He found that the greater the prevalence of teleworkers in an office, the less others in the office are apt to be satisfied with their jobs, with a corresponding decrease in the probability that they will remain with the company.
While reasons for the adverse impact on non-teleworker’s satisfaction are varied, it potentially could be due to coworker’s perceptions that they have decreased flexibility and a higher workload, and the ensuing greater frustration that comes with coordinating in an environment with more extensive co-worker telework,suggests Golden.
The findings were published in the November 2007 issue of the journal Human Relations.
Posted: January 15th, 2008 under General.
Tags: computer, internet, office, recruiting, social networking, social_networks, telecommuting, teleworker, work
Comment from Matthew
Time January 15, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Interesting; I would’ve thought the isolation would take a greater toll on the telecommuters themselves.
I don’t quite buy 240 people from a single company being scientifically measurable, but I do agree about telecommuters enjoying greater autonomy. For one thing, I’ve noticed they’re much more immune to micromanagement.