[April 30, 2013]

More than 136,000 Powered Telework Week - Collectively Saving $12.3M in Commuting Costs

Mobile Work Exchange^SM, a public-private partnership focused on demonstrating the value of mobility and telework, today announced the results of Telework Week 2013. During March 4-8, a total of 136,093 employees pledged to telework across the globe - saving $12.3 million in commuting costs, sparing 7,892 tons in CO2 emissions, and gaining back 665,936 hours. The average Telework Week pledge teleworked two days and saved four hours by not commuting. To extrapolate, if all Telework Week pledges teleworked for one year, they would collectively save $614.2 million in commuting costs.

With the rise in telework programs and mobile IT adoption, participation in the annual event, which is designed to encourage agencies, organizations, and individuals to telework, increased 91 percent over 2012 and fourfold over 2011, according to the post Telework Week 2013 Report, "The Telework Revolution: Bringing Theory to Practice." The third-annual effort is sponsored by Cisco (News - Alert) and Citrix, both leaders in the mobile IT movement.

PosITive Charge

Looking at previous Telework Week efforts, the use of laptops, virtualized private networks, smartphones, collaboration tools, video conferencing, and tablets increased year over year. In addition to technology improvements, more change came from productivity gains and managers' acceptance. Sixty-six percent of organizations noted that their management team is more open to and encouraging of telework today than one year ago. All organizations noted equal or greater productivity during Telework Week - no organizations found employees were less productive.

"As we move toward a more mobile workforce, it is imperative for public sector organizations to provide employees with highly secure access to information to better serve constituents," said Patrick Finn, senior vice president of U.S. Public Sector at Cisco. "At Cisco, we are committed to providing mobile and collaboratin solutions that create a more effective workforce, capable of tackling challenges regardless of device or location. Telework Week provides a valuable opportunity for organizations to assess these technologies and better adapt to the new demands of the mobile worker."

Feds Take Charge

The Federal government led the way in Telework Week 2013, representing 82 percent of the total pledges. Federal participation increased by 66 percent from 2012 - showing significant interest in enhancing telework programs. Federal telework program efficiency increased as well - four out of five Federal pledges noted they did not encounter any challenges - whether it was technical, communicational, management-related, and/or trust issues - related to teleworking during the week. Collectively, Federal pledges avoided driving 10.1 million miles; gained back 446,710 hours, and removed 5,068 tons of pollutants from the environment. Collectively, Federal pledges saved more than $8.3 million by teleworking during Telework Week.

"The surge of Telework Week 2013 participants proves the need for technology services that can enable today's mobile workforce," said Tom Simmons, Area Vice President of Public Sector at Citrix. "A large part of the country dealt with inclement winter weather during this year's Telework Week, and four out of five Telework Week participants affected by Snowstorm Saturn in early March said they were prepared to telework when the storm hit. The need for teleworking programs is more critical than ever, and a partnership with Citrix enables government agencies to expand such initiatives with the least expense and staff resources, while giving remote employees simple, secure and reliable solutions for remaining productive while away from the office."

"Organizations are faced with many challenges - delivering results, improving productivity, balancing costs, and retaining a valuable workforce to name a few," said Cindy Auten, general manager, Mobile Work Exchange. "It can improve productivity in your organization. It can serve as a strong morale booster for employees. It can maintain continuity in the midst of a disruption. Telework is not just a benefit for employees - it's a powerful business strategy for organizations that can impact your workforce, your business, and your future."

Mobile Work Exchange collected data from 136,093 Telework Week participants and executed a post-Telework Week online survey with participating employees and organizations to capture lessons learned. To learn more, download the results of the full report, "The Telework Revolution (News - Alert): Bringing Theory to Practice," at www.mobileworkexchange.com/teleworkweek.

About Mobile Work Exchange

Mobile Work Exchange, the new Telework Exchange, is a public-private partnership focused on demonstrating the value of mobility and telework, and serving the emerging educational and communication requirements of the Federal mobile/telework community. The organization facilitates communication to more than 33,000 Federal IT directors/managers, CIOs, CHCOs, telework managing officers, and key stakeholders - all focused on building a sustainable and effective mobile workforce. For more information on Mobile Work Exchange, please visit www.mobileworkexchange.com or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @MobileWorkX.

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