The introduction and increased availability of advanced technologies is changing worklife today as more and more workers find it possible to complete their daily tasks from home or other locations.

 

Technologies like IP Communications, Virtual Private Networks, VoIP and Video Conferencing are all making it possible for employees to telework or telecommute from home or another location without the need to travel to a dedicate work site.

 

Teleworking is increasing significantly in workplaces in the United States and Canada according the 2008-2009 WorldatWork Salary Budget Survey which found that telework grew 42 percent in organizations in the U.S. and 40 percent in Canada this year.

 

Teleworking is beneficial for both employees and employers and allows less time to be spent commuting and traveling and more time to be dedicated to work productivity. Also, teleworking increases energy conservation, cost savings and staffing flexibility

 

To keep up with the changing marketplace and diverse needs of today's employees, many organizations are offering a more up-to-date mix of employee reward programs to attract and retain talent. Chief among this mix of rewards is the ability for employees to telework. Retention bonuses and stock grant programs also grew this year according to the surveys findings.

 

Anne C. Ruddy, CCP, president of WorldatWork commented, “It’s been a perfect storm. Rising gas prices, leading-edge technology, and the push for work-life flexibility has all come together in the past 12 months to create a pretty dramatic increase in telework across the U.S. and Canada.”

 

A recent Wainhouse Research WebMetrics Survey also found that more and more businesses are using collaboration technologies and increasing the ability for employees to telework in a bid to save on increasing energy and gas prices.

 

"Rising energy prices have resulted in a surge in use of conferencing and collaboration technologies, and telework is one of several silver bullets that are helping enterprises programmatically add collaboration technologies," said Alan Greenberg, senior analyst & partner, Wainhouse Research.