Some Companies Rethink The Telecommuting Trend

Join the forum discussion on this post

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that some large companies as well as governmental agencies are re-evaluating telecommuting options on fears of recession and data security worries:

Although working from home has been expanding steadily, some chinks are appearing in the trend. A few big promoters of home-based and mobile-office work arrangements, including AT&T, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and parts of the federal government, have called some home-based workers back to the office, causing some to quit. The callbacks are small and don’t reflect a full retrenchment, but the factors at work — a push to consolidate operations, and the notion that teamwork improves when people work face-to-face — suggest other employers might follow suit as recession clouds loom.

While several of the employers mentioned in the article say they fully support telecommuting and other flexible work arrangements, it’s important to recognize that in times of fear and uncertainty, it may be more difficult to convince older, more traditional businesses to commit to such programs.

I’m of the opinion that data-security and recession fears are overblown, and this is an excellent time to expand the use of telework rather than constrain it. Any companies that are faced with recession-related pressures would find that telework lowers many of their operating costs. Without doubt, there are potential risks when rolling out telework plans - but these are quite easily mitigated.