TELEWORKING 

IF YOU ARE ALREADY WORKING FROM HOME, OR ARE PLANNING TO DO SO, YOUR FUTURE IS BRIGHT.

RECENT STUDIES INDICATE THAT "TELEWORKING" APPEALS TO FORWARD THINKERS, WHO ARE ALREADY RECEIVING HIGHER STATUS VISIBILITY THAN SOME OFFICE WORKERS. SOME CONSULTANTS, WRITERS, COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS, FINANCIAL ANALYSTS, RESEARCHERS AND DESK-TOP PUBLISHERS ARE RAPIDLY CLIMBING THE ECONOMIC TOTEM POLE.

TELEWORKING COVERS MANY CATEGORIES OF "REMOTE" WORK WHERE INDI- VIDUALS CONDUCT THEIR DUTIES AWAY FROM A PERMANENT LOCATION. AS WE ENTER THE COMMUNICATIONS AGE, A SUBSTANTIAL SEGMENT OF THE WORK FORCE, ESPECIALLY IN "KNOWLEDGE" INDUSTRIES, WILL BE OPERATING FROM OTHER THAN THE TRADITIONAL OFFICE LOCATION. THE IMPLICATIONS FOR EVERYONE CAN BE ENORMOUS.

RECENTLY-RELEASED FIGURES SHOW THAT ABOUT 10 PERCENT OF THE WORK- FORCE IS CURRENTLY OPERATING FROM HOME FULL TIME WITH ANOTHER 10 PERCENT OPERATING PART-TIME. THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE EXECUTIVES WHO MAY BRING HOME THEIR "OFFICE-IN-A-BRIEFCASE" EVERY NIGHT. IT SEEMS ALMOST ASSURED, DUE PARTLY TO THE DROP IN THE COST OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS, THAT TELEWORKING HAS NO WHERE TO GO BUT UP.

OCCUPATIONS MOST APPLICABLE FOR TELEWORKING TEND TO BE INFOR- MATION-INTENSIVE RATHER THAN CAPITAL-INTENSIVE. THEY ARE PARTICULARLY EVIDENT, AT THIS EARLY STAGE OF THE INFORMATION AGE, IN FINANCIAL, COMPUTER, RESEARCH AND PUBLISHING SECTORS.

TELEWORKING PROVIDES EMPLOYERS WITH GREATER ACCESS TO A WIDER TALENT POOL. BY UTILIZING SCARCE RESOURCES MORE EFFECTIVELY, IMPROVED PROFITABILITY RESULTS. THEORETICALLY, A FOREIGN TELEWORKER WORKER COULD BE EMPLOYED HALF A PHYSICAL WORLD AWAY FROM HIS RESIDENCE. THIS CAN BE BOTH FRIGHTENING AND ATTRACTIVE, DEPENDING ON YOUR CONFIDENCE FACTOR.

FLEXIBILITY IN HOME AND WORK RELATIONSHIPS, AND THE SUBSTANTIAL REDUCTION IN TRAVEL TIME AND EXPENSES, ARE THE MAIN ADVANTAGES FOR THE EMPLOYEE. IT BECOMES QUESTIONABLE JUST HOW MUCH OF AN EMPLOYEE THE WORKER-AT-HOME BECOMES, AS THIS INVOLVES MORE SELF-DISCIPLINE -- USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SELF-EMPLOYED. STUDIES INDICATE THAT TELEWORKERS ENJOY THE INDEPENDENCE AND FREEDOM OF WORKING AT HOME AND THE RESULTING CLOSER FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS. MANY SEEM NOT TO NOTICE OR TO PREFER THE LACK OF CONVENTIONAL SOCIAL CONTACTS THAT A REGULAR NINE-TO-FIVE OFFICE REGIME OFFERS.

SOME SALES PEOPLE, AUDITORS, BUILDING INSPECTORS AND OTHERS WERE CONDUCTING WORK-FROM-HOME OPERATIONS, EVEN BEFORE THE COMMUNICATIONS AGE BEGAN TO BLOSSOM. TODAY LAP-TOP AND PLUG-INTO-THE-NEAREST-PHONE COMPUTERS, WORLDWIDE 800 NUMBERS AND COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS CAN BROADEN THEIR FIELD OF COVERAGE. WHEN COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS BECOME AVAILABLE LATER THIS YEAR FROM COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT VIA DIRECT-TO- SATELLITE CONNECTIONS, ANOTHER WHOLE FIELD OF ACCESSIBILITY WILL OPEN. EVEN FOREIGN FIELDS WILL THEN OFFER NO PROBLEM FOR EITHER ACCESS OF INFORMATION OR DISPATCH OF SAME TO A HOME OFFICE, FROM SEA LEVEL OR 36,000 FEET IN THE SKY. SOME 50 AMERICAN COMPANIES, SEVERAL BELONGING TO THE TOP 500, HAVE ALREADY INSTIGATED FORMAL TELEWORK PROGRAMS. OTHERS WILL SOON FOLLOW SUIT.

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