NorthernTelework.ca

Telecommuting better for staff and employers

Telecommuting is better for both workers and bosses, as it boosts morale and job satisfaction, and cuts stress levels, researchers have discovered.

Researchers analyzed 46 studies on flexible work arrangements over the past twenty years.

Ravi S. Gajendran and David A. Harrison, at the Department of Management and Organisation at Pennsylvania State University studied data on 12,833 telecommuters who spend time working away from the office, and found that working away from the office has more pluses than negatives for people and the companies that employ them.

It’s really difficult to reconcile the results of this study (one I’ve previously covered on NorthernTelework.ca) with a previous post to a story in the Globe and Mail suggesting that companies are moving away from telework.  Steve

ITworld.com.

Teleworkers called back to the cubicle

… that tight-knit teleworking community has been stirring for the past month with the news that AT&T – perhaps the single greatest promoter of telework in the 1980s and early 1990s – is downsizing its telework program, if not axing it altogether.

Thanks goes out to Don Curry for pointing out this story in the Globe & Mail. Are we witnessing the death of telework? Steve

globeandmail.com.

Canadian Copyright Reform

The Canadian government is about to bring down what is feared to be Canada’s version of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and if so, it promises to be the worst copyright law in the developed world. It will contain an “anti-circumvention” clause that prohibits breaking the locks off your music and movies in order to move them to new devices or watch them after the company that made them goes out of business — and it will follow the US’s disastrous lead with the DMCA in that there will be no exceptions to the ban on circumvention, not even for parody, fair dealing, time shifting, or other legal uses.

As a IT Consultant and teleworker who cares about Canada’s cultural policy I hope that the Government will work to ensure that any new legislation is not a regression from the sensible policies set out in Bill C-60. These concerns are shared by a substantial and growing number of informed Canadian citizens.  Steve

Benefits of Telecommuting

Through my own experiences as a business owner, I have found telecommuting to be an attractive alternative to commuting to a centralized workplace. It provides significant benefits for employees and employers alike, as well as offering advantages in the areas of environmental protection and energy conservation.

Great telework introduction.  Steve

TMCnet.