The Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become an indispensable part of our lives. The use of Internet has spread worldwide in a short time and it is used by a wide section of the society, including government, businesses and households. It has crossed national boundaries as a result of which the lifestyle of the people has undergone dramatic changes. Globalization, combined with rapid spread of ICT and an overall transition towards a knowledge-intensive economy, has brought about a restructuring of employment and trade on a transnational scale. Another consequence of the spread of Internet and the expansion of ICT has been a new form of work in the labor market—the telework.
Telework can simply be defined as the ability to do work at any location other than the conventional workplace, aided by computers, wireless communication devices and other high speed telecommunication technologies. In other words, telework involves some form of relocation of work which has been made possible by the combined use of ICT. Since the beginning of the teleworking process in 1990s, doubts have been raised regarding its feasibility and sustainability. However, studies in the US and the EU have shown that the percentage of teleworkers is rapidly increasing in virtually all the developed countries.
As
evident from both the above categories, it can be said that
teleworking is a form of a flexible work arrangement much
different from the traditional work environment in an office.
In today's highly competitive world, businesspersons are constantly
looking at lowering costs through downsizing of staff and
by outsourcing non-core activities. Teleworking primarily
evolved in response to the business challenge of not only
reducing personnel costs but also increasing flexibility. |
