Canadian Telework Studies

Many Canadian public and private-sector organizations have recognized and experienced the benefits of telework. Here are just a few examples as well as some stats and facts:

Oct 09	Report titled HR Responses to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games: British Columbia human resources practitioners predict that 70% of BC employers will increase use of telecommuting to Olympic transportation problems
Aug 08	2008-2009 WorldatWork Survey, shows:
	►	of all flexible work arrangements, telework has grown fastest in both the US and in Canada
	►	30% of US companies and 25% of Canadian ones offered it in 2007
	►	In 2008, this grew to 42% and 40% respectively
	►	Growth attributed to a �perfect storm� of rising gas prices, leading-edge technology, and pushes for work-life flexibility have all come together in the past 12 months to create a pretty dramatic increase in telework across the U.S. and Canada.�
Aug 08	Office Team survey of 100 senior execs 74% of Canadian managers expect teleworker numbers to increase in next 5 years.
Feb 08	Towers Perrin Study of 90,000 employees:
Feb 08	►	Ability to balance work and personal life is the most critical factor in employee decisions to stay with their jobs
	►	42% say that managers lack fairness and consistency in helping them to balance
	►	56% say employer has no policy or program to help balance work and professional life
Feb 08	Survey shows that while salary remains top draw for job candidates, telecommuting tied for second (see Robert Half study here)
July 07	Statistics Canada: Statistics Canada study �Working at home An update� (see .pdf version here). Report counts about 1.4 million employee teleworkers. However, mentions that the growth "appears" to have leveled off, which makes little sense to us. See "Apples and Oranges (MSWord) for full details.
July 07	Telecommuting gaining ground in Canada: Study Shows More IT Employees Working Remotely Today Than 5 Years Ago: Another study by Robert Half Technology of 270 CIOs of Canadian companies.
	►	Increased productivity and improved retention and morale were cited as the greatest benefits among firms that allow telecommuting.
	►	Enhanced connectivity tools provide IT professionals greater flexibility and the option to work even when they are away from the office. Consequently, working remotely is more commonplace today and more acceptable.
	►	58% of CIOs said their companies' IT workforce is telecommuting
	►	27% felt that telecommuters generate too many security risks because they need to access elements such as corporate networks, systems and intellectual property off-site
	►	Employers should consider what IT jobs are best suited for telecommuting? Alternative work arrangements are most suitable for individuals whose jobs can be performed with relative autonomy
	►	Employers should also determine how to ensure effective communication between team members, keep schedules of workers' on-site availability, and where and how they can be reached when off-site, can keep work flowing smoothly.
2006	Catalyst CanadaStudy of Canadian Lawyers: telecommuting and flextime are the most popular types of flexible work arrangements among lawyers
April 06	What are Canadian companies doing to retain top talent? Robert Half Technology asked some 270 Canadian CIOs (in companies with more than 100 employees): "What steps, if any, is your firm taking to retain key IT talent?" "Offering flexible schedules or telecommuting options is a cost-effective way to improve overall job satisfaction, show appreciation and build loyalty". Full details here Partial responses as follows:
	►	Providing training or professional development .58%
	►	Offering telework or flexible schedules ........... 41%
	►	Increasing base compensation .......... 40%
April 05	Gartner Group Paper: Teleworking: The Quiet Revolution (2005 Update): "Compared with the major U.S. teleworking states, Canada has maintained a relatively cautious approach to this trend despite a similarity to the United States with regard to traffic congestion problems in major cities. According to Canadian teleworking studies, a large gulf remains between the desire of employees to telework and their ability to do so. But as Table 3 shows, while starting from a relatively low base, the growth for teleworking in Canada to 2008 mirrors the worldwide trend � with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.6 percent for those teleworking at least one day a month and a CAGR of 8 percent for those teleworking one day a week. While the trend in Canada is not as widespread, those Canadians who do telework tend to do so for a greater proportion of their working week compared with those teleworking in the United States and parts of Western Europe."
April 05	Towers Perrin survey of 80 large Canadian companies:
	►	Flexible work arrangements reduce work/life conflict
	►	Workplace stress leads to higher employee turnover, lost productivity, and skyrocketing health and disability costs
	►	Employers are beginning to recognize the magnitude of the issue, and are starting to look at different ways of responding to fight the rising costs of absenteeism and disability benefits.
	►	Flexible work arrangements--including measures such as job sharing, telecommuting and phased retirement---are helping employees strike a better work/life balance.
	►	While over 80 per cent of companies offer some form of flexible work arrangements, most are in response to individual employee requests. Management resistance is the biggest barrier to widespread adoption of flexible work arrangements, and few companies are implementing the measures on a strategic basis. See article here
April 05	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). See article here
Jan 02	Royal Bank of Canada Survey IT, including ability to telework, shapes Canadian family life. More than ever, people can work at home in a fashion that replicates the office. More time working and less commuting time means more time with the family. The tangible benefits of telecommuting are many. Here is what telecommuters say:
	►	77% say it increases job satisfaction
	►	72% say it allows more time with the family
	►	58% say it permits more convenient child care arrangements
	►	32% say it allows more trips/vacations out of the city
	►	30% say it gives them greater choice on where to live
	►	18% say it lets them get by with only one vehicle
	►	See study here
2001	Wired Young Canadians (Statistics Canada Report, Dec, 2001) shows that young teens are ripe to become tomorrow's teleworkers. Since they were kids, teens have integrated the Net into their lives -- shaming stodgy twentysomethings, let alone their Baby Boomer parents. The telephone isn't even a consideration for communicating with friends, who use on-line chat software to zip off messages to each other in after-school surfing sessions. One teen said: "I don't really talk to my friends on the phone. I talk to them on the computer." One of those bonuses is the ability to strike up virtual friendships. See pdf file here
91-99	Statistics Canada: Surveys and studies show that telework is not only growing, but that its rate of growth is increasing: Survey released in Feb 2001 (based on 1999 data) - Findings released as part of the Workplace and Employee Survey indicate the telework continues to grow. The survey counted just over 900,000 teleworkers, but was based on 1998 data, and did not include public-sector admin workers. Our assessment? Extrapolating to 2001, and for all work sectors, the number of Canadian teleworkers appears to be closing in on the 1.5 million mark predicted in its 1999 Survey of Work Arrangements (see above). Survey released in 1999 (based on 1997 data) - Same survey indicated a growth of 40% to 1,000,000 teleworkers. Predicted that by the year 2001 (the next 4-year period), there would be a further growth of 50% to 1.5 million teleworkers. Survey released in 1993 (based on 1991 data) - Survey of Work Arrangements indicated 600,000 teleworkers in Canada.
2001	EKOS Research: This May 2001 study of over 5000 Canadians reveals that working at home (including telework) is growing even more. Findings (pdf file) include: 11% of Canadians work primarily from home (includes telework, overtime or time on their business). Over 40% of Canadians work from home part of the time, including: 77% of self-employed persons; 52% of professionals; 56% of managers. 34% of Canadians who work at home do so under 5 hrs per week, while 31% do so over 20 hrs per week Telework to become a more common fixture of the labour market. 17% of Canadians are highly familiar with the term "telework", while 39% are moderately familiar with the term There is a sizeable interest in working from home. Over 50% of Canadian workers are interested in working from home. 27% view it as �extremely appealing Impact of telework. Saravanamutoo adds that: ��those who work from home are telling us that it has made a substantial difference in their lives": 68% report improvement in overall quality of life; 57% report improvement in finances; 60% report improvement in standard of living; and, 36% report positive impact on career advancement; 49% say neutral impact. EKOS VP Malcolm Saravanamutoo said: �As time pressures continue to mount and individuals look for ways to balance work and other commitments, I think that more employers will begin to view telework as a strategic way to recruit or to hold on to their best employees�
1999	EKOS Research (1998 telework findings) Study revealed that Canadians want to telework. This Ekos study was released on Nov 4, 1998 during Canada's first Telework Day. The findings were part of a study of several thousand Canadians in "one of the most comprehensive efforts to date relating to the information highway, underlying attitudes, and behavior within Canadian households." Key findings included the following: 55% of Canadian employees want to telework now 50% feel their jobs are at least partially teleworkable now 29% expect to telework next year. 63% expect to telework at some point 43% would quit their jobs if another employer offered them an equivalent job allowing telework 33% would choose telework over a 10% raise 77% believe that new technology facilitates working at home positive impacts (finances, family life, time pressures, working hours) far outweigh the negative impacts As with most other studies, most telework occurs part of the week at home, and part in the office. This is good as it helps to address issues such as 'staying in the loop', isolation, loneliness, and 'out of sight, out of mind'. Working in both locations also helps acclimatize teleworkers, tele-managers and office-bound colleagues to the art of telework. "These are the kinds of findings which are hard for employers not to notice," says Frank Graves, President of EKOS. "They might make many of them pay closer attention to telework and see it as a strategic way to recruit or hold on to key employees." He adds: "Even if we were to discount the numbers significantly, we are still talking about a sizeable number of employees who could be lured away to another company or would be willing to trade off pay increases. We are also talking about employees who for the most part are satisfied with their jobs." Those employers who dismiss telework out of hand, or say that it "just does not apply in my organization" had better look again, before they find that their best people have "voted with their feet.

Bank of Canada (1998). A March 1998 evaluation of 100 Bank teleworkers found telework to be a great success. 94% of participants rated telework as a 'major benefit' of working at the Bank, and 83% found that productivity increases and stress reduced. The Bank expects to double its teleworkers population before too long.

Nortel (1999): Almost 20,000, or 25%, of Nortel's 80,000 employees worldwide telework under its 'HOMEbase" program. About 14,446 are part-time teleworkers, but some 5,153 are full time teleworkers. About 40% of these are in Canada, with almost 2/3 in the Ottawa area (Nortel's largest concentration of teleworkers). The rest are in the US (RTP, Richardson, US north) and in Europe, where there are some 1,365 in Europe (341 of whom telework full time).

The program is highly successful and Nortel attributes this in part to strong senior management support, marketing to overcome cultural resistance and training. In fact, the program is so beneficial that most of Nortel's business units have established incentives to encourage more telecommuting. Once started, less than 1% of Nortel's telecommuters want to stop. Here are some of the stats:

24% improvement in productivity;
10% improvement in satisfaction;
24% reduction in turnover;
$15 million saving in real estate savings per year;
40 million lbs. of Greenhouse gas pollutants eliminated per year
employees also benefited by reducing costs for transport, clothing and food, and gaining more discretionary time.

Bell Canada Bell Canada has one of Canada's largest programs, with close to 20,000 employees being equipped to telework.

Canadian Federal Government (1994): A major evaluation of the Canadian Federal Government's approximately 5,000 teleworkers found that telework balances work & personal lives, reduces stress, absenteeism and costs of "going to work", while re-energizing employees and improving productivity. It also found improved levels of service, and a potential for significant accommodations savings. It accomplished this at no economic or operational loss, and with the support of managers and colleagues. Most teleworkers spent over one hour driving alone to and from work when not teleworking making their telework days environmentally friendly by any standards.

Canada's Information Highway Advisory Council recommends that all levels of government actively use telework to mitigate job losses, job dislocation, and facilitate worker adaptation.

Conference Board of Canada 1994 In its 1998 report, the Board said that Canada loses too many potential high tech recruits to U.S. companies that offer more innovative work environments that appeal to young and mobile workers. It reported "Employers enthusiastically cited enhanced worker productivity, the ability to retain valuable employees, and increased employee loyalty as the benefits from telework programs."

1997 KPMG survey of over 2,000 Canadian organizations predicted that telework will continue growing over the next several years, especially for jobs in the professional, technical and middle management areas.

IBM Canada About 2,300 (or 25% of IBM Canada's non-manufacturing workforce) employees work telework almost full time. This figure increases 5% a year. Some of the numbers include:

productivity improvements of up to 50%;
saving of over $35 million on office space (since the early 90's);
for the first time in its history, productivity, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction all increased; and,
for more information, search for "telecommuting" on Brass Ring website. Look for conversation with Laurie Harley, IBM Canada's Director of Workplace Programs.

Lanark County Ontario Thousands of Lanark County residents spend some 3 months a year commuting to and from the Ottawa-Carleton region. To help its residents reduce their commute, while taking full advantage of Lanark's beautiful and peaceful lifestyle, the Lanark Communications Network helps and encourages residents and their employers in Ottawa-Carleton to consider telework as a way to improve their quality time at home and productivity at work. The project shows every sign of achieving its goal while improving Lanark's level of economic development and sustainability.

Leeds & Grenville Counties to support teleworkers: With the completion of Highway #416, Upper Canada Networks (UCNet) became aware of the growing numbers of telecommuters relocating into Leeds & Grenville. Because of this demand UCNet is in the process of building a broadband network to cover the needs of existing businesses, new businesses and the teleworkers.