The New Information Based Workplace
Hope you all had a good break and are ready to finish the term!
Your reading over the break addressed not only how learning will change through increased technology, but also how work and workplace issues are being transformed. As companies grow "meaner and leaner," telecommuting (teleworking) is growing exponentially. Many industry studies place telecommuters at about 30% of the workforce, and in some corporate fields telecommuters can be as much as 90% of the workforce.
There have always been some occupations where at home/at work has not been separated: small businesses, sales representatives, freelancers and others frequently work out of the house. But, more positions, like public relations, advertising copywriters, magazine writers and columnists, and yes, even college professors (like those at the University of Phoenix or elsewhere) are becoming teleworking positions. Many large corporations like ATT, Lockheed, and others, hire great numbers of teleworkers.
Teleworking is very much current and will most likely increase in the future. You, your friends, or perhaps present or future life partners will face these issues in the workplace. The question for this week is,
Based on what you've read about teleworking, what are the benefits and disadvantages to such a situation?
You can address whether you think teleworking is something you'd like to pursue, or whether you think teleworking adds extra burdens to the worker.
And, as someone mentioned in our last meeting, no one does any cross posting. I agree. I'd like to see folks respond to what some others say on the blog. Not just in class, but on the blog as well. Let's get a little chatter going.
See you Monday night.
Your reading over the break addressed not only how learning will change through increased technology, but also how work and workplace issues are being transformed. As companies grow "meaner and leaner," telecommuting (teleworking) is growing exponentially. Many industry studies place telecommuters at about 30% of the workforce, and in some corporate fields telecommuters can be as much as 90% of the workforce.
There have always been some occupations where at home/at work has not been separated: small businesses, sales representatives, freelancers and others frequently work out of the house. But, more positions, like public relations, advertising copywriters, magazine writers and columnists, and yes, even college professors (like those at the University of Phoenix or elsewhere) are becoming teleworking positions. Many large corporations like ATT, Lockheed, and others, hire great numbers of teleworkers.
Teleworking is very much current and will most likely increase in the future. You, your friends, or perhaps present or future life partners will face these issues in the workplace. The question for this week is,
Based on what you've read about teleworking, what are the benefits and disadvantages to such a situation?
You can address whether you think teleworking is something you'd like to pursue, or whether you think teleworking adds extra burdens to the worker.
And, as someone mentioned in our last meeting, no one does any cross posting. I agree. I'd like to see folks respond to what some others say on the blog. Not just in class, but on the blog as well. Let's get a little chatter going.
See you Monday night.
posted by Diane Penrod at 3/19/2005
1 Comments:
Kelly B.
There are both positives and negatives regarding teleworking. The positives are quite obvious because there is no need for transportation since work is where you live. That simple phrase "work is where you live" can sound positive and negative. Positively: there is no commute, you can continue your life at home while at work, you would not need to have childcare in some cases. Negatively, since work is where you live you never leave it, at the end of a 9 to 5 work day you are able to drive home and forget about work until the morning. Your home can be a place for serenity, away from the worries of work. On the flip side for many people work is an escape. Without work, many people do not have much of a social life. For people that have children it's nice for them to be at work where they feel they can do adult things, without Barney on in the backround. Working from home would not be for me, but it really depends on the person. For many teleworking is perfect and makes a lot of sense. It just takes a lot of thought of the many positives and negatives that come with it.
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