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Telework:
recruitment, retention and jobs
Other
pages in the telework job series:
- Why telework is great
for recruitment & retention
- Surveys & supporting information
- Finding a telework
job (important...read the "notice")
-
Miscellaneous
resources
Surveys,
statistics, and supporting information
While
telework usually applies to people who are already employed, many
organizations have discovered how telework can attract expertise and
inexpensive labour from outside their region, or even outside their
country. They realize that with telework, employees can be recruited
from anywhere and sometimes don't even have to come to their
premises. They also discover how telework helps to reduce the
incidence of costly turnover, which in turn minimizes disruption and
helps avoid expensive training costs. These studies, surveys and articles that underscore the point:
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Recruitment wars:
Applicants
flock to positions that include telework options |
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Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
Telecommuting would encourage 68% of pre-retirees to
remain working for 2 years or longer |
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Ipsos-Reid poll (Collective wisdom on the workplace -
the talent game) - 42% of Canadians say they could be retained at one
job or lured to another by working from home at least one day a week
(April 2005) |
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TrueCareers
Inc. Survey: Reston,
Va firm found that telecommuting option vital in job searches. 75%
of respondents said telecommuting is an important option when
searching for a new job; 80% think telecommuting would make them
more productive in their current jobs. The survey confirms
belief that we'll see the telecommuting trend continue to rise and
grow in popularity among major corporations. |
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Profit
Magazine Survey: Top
futurists, experts and CEOs predict the office will become obsolete;
and that technology will make telecommuting possible - and for many
businesses, it could be a matter of survival. A decade from now,
about half of Canada's nine million baby boomers will be 50 to 60
years old — the age at which many people start looking for
flexible work arrangements. "We'll have to be far more
innovative at using the workforce we've got," says demographer
David Foot, an economics professor at the University of Toronto.
"Organizations that can handle a part-time consultant workforce
are going to boom" — and profit from lower real-estate costs |
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People
have to come first! Telecommuting, training, and flexible hours are
tools you can use to stay ahead of the competition and hold on to
people |
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Ceridian
Research Study: 60% of respondents say telecommuting is
highly successful in retaining employees; 52% say it is highly
successful in attracting workers |
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Sage
Research Survey (Jan 2002): Survey
ranks recruitment and retention as the #1 telework driver. Only 30%
quote real estate costs as a key benefit |
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Employment
Policy Foundation (Sep 2000): US
to be short by 5 million workers by year 2008 unless employment
policies (including telecommuting) are put on a dramatically
different track |
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Monster.com
(1999): 71%
of the 64,000 respondents said they saw themselves working full time
from home in the next three years. In another Monster.ca poll, 38%
of 900 Canadian job seekers say telework would influence their job
choice |
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Washington
Post survey (1999): 3,500
hi-tech workers rate telework as most sought-after job perk. |
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National
US Study: Most employees strongly value telework, yet few
are offered the chance. Only 8% of workers telecommute, but 59%
would if given the chance. Almost 1/3 of those working for
telecommuting companies cannot telecommute. |
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Canada's
High Tech Career Journal (to find article, search for
telecommuting and IBM) Time for the IT industry to get with
telework! |
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Nortel's
telework program reduces
turnover by 24% |
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Ekos
Research: Two separate studies demonstrate value of
telework as a recruitment and retention tool. In a 2001
study with some 5000 Canadian workrer respondents, 50% of
Canadian workers said they were interested in working from home, and
27% viewed it as “extremely appealing. In a 1998
survey of some 3,500 Canadian worker respondents, 43% said
they'd switch companies in order to telework; 33% would choose
telework over a 10% raise; 55% want to telework now; 50% say all, or
part of, their current job is 'teleworkable’. |
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Information
Week Research Survey (May '98): Of the 11,000 IT
professionals who responded to this massive survey, 29% overall
rated telecommuting as something that matters most to them about
their jobs (20% of executives; 35% of programmers; and 32% of
systems analysts) |
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Smart
Valley Telecommuting Survey (Oct. '97) High tech workers
in Fortune 1000 companies say the ability to telework affects which
company they work for. 91% say telework would influence their
choice of employees. |
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Catalyst
Research workplace survey: 78% of full-timers & 98%
of part-timers agree that flexible work programs encourage employees
to stay on. (Dec 6/97 Ottawa Citizen; pg. L10). |
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Manchester
University: The companies likeliest to prosper respect
their employees home life and introduce an element of 'fun' in the
workplace (Gary Cooper, professor, organized psychology). |
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William
Olsten 1998: "Managing Workplace Technology"
survey highlights telework as an effective recruiting tool in a
tight labor market. 1/3 of North American companies use
telework to attract qualified employees. 45% say telework increases
productivity; 74% of executives expect to increase their use of
telework. |
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IBM
Canada (Globe & Mail, Feb. 21/98,pg E6): IBM
meets with incredibly high success at recruiting high tech talent.
One reason is its commitment to telework (about 20% of its workforce
telecommutes ). "From a productivity standpoint, it gives
enormous choice of flexibility. Telecommuting also attracts people
who want to cut into their commuting time and incorporate particular
lifestyle needs into their career commitments." Neil Clooney,
VP, Human Resources, IBM |
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Canadian
Conference Board: 1998 report says that Canada loses many
potential high tech recruits to U.S. companies that offer innovative
work environments that appeal to young and mobile workers. It
encourages Canadian organizations to manage for retention and become
'employers of choice' by offering flexible work environments that
promote work/life balance. |
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Canadian
Telework Association (June '98): 62%
of CTA members state that the ability to telework would affect their
choice of employer. Also, only 3% of them telework under a formal
company telework arrangement. The rest telework with with the
approval of their supervisors. |
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InnoVisions
Canada : As is the case with most organizations that
specialize in telework, InnoVisions Canada continually receive
requests from high tech workers seeking jobs with telework-friendly
companies, or vice-versa. For example: "I am an experienced
programmer looking for work I can perform from home";
"Please provide me information on firms that offer
telework?"; "How do I find computer programming jobs which
would allow me to work from home"; "Here in Columbia, we
have experienced programmers who are willing to telework for high
tech firms in your country". |
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US
Government: Telework can be an effective labour marketing
tool to target new labor pools such as severely disabled
individuals, individuals with other personal constraints, and
individuals who live far away. |
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Telework
America!: Most companies are competing for good workers,
and telecommuting happens to be a benefit that lures them,
especially Generation Xers, who are so comfortable with computers. |
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Home
Office Computing Magazine: In a major survey of Fortune
1000 companies and executives, retention was cited as the no. 1
advantage of telework. 73% said that one of the main drivers of
telework growth would be the desire to retain top employee. Other
advantages included improved morale, productivity, work quality and
work planning. |
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Motorola:
Among the advantages of telework, it included improved employee
recruitment and retention, due to a broadened geographic base for
recruitment and the reduction of turnover due to relocation of
spouse. |
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Canadian
Federal Government: Telework expanded the
"pool" of potential workers, including those with: a need
to care for children or elders; disabilities; and commuting
difficulties; and retired employees who still wish to work |
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US
Department of Commuter Transportation: Telecommuting
programs enable firms to recruit from a wider audience, tapping into
new labour pools, such as the physically impaired, the elderly and
the geographically-remote employees. Faced with long and stressful
commutes to and from work every day, employees may look for
employment either closer to home, or with employers who offer the
telework option. |
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US
West VP & GM John Kelley): During this time of worker
shortages, rising infrastructure costs and demand for increased
internal and external service levels, providing a viable telework
program is becoming increasingly important for organizations that
want to attract and retain top talent |
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International
Personnel Management Association (IPMA): Feb
’98): Flexible work arrangements, including..telecommuting..may
entice technical staff to join your ranks and stay there. |
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American
Management Association International (Feb ’98): Companies
have discovered a new reason for setting up telecommuting programs:
it helps them attract and retain employees in a tight labour
market. One of their articles says that "virtual workers
as a broad category will be the next hot job coming up and that
telecommuting and working from home appeal to people in many lines
of work who want to be in the driver's seat of their career and
adopt a flexible work schedule. |
