Case Study: Telecommuting

Telecommuting, referred to as work-at-home, in this case, is defined as employees given the opportunity to work from home based on a merit system. In this case, there are no set guidelines for the policy and employees are only assessed based on output. For those employees whose output allows them to work at home, there have been increases in output but there is a concern that those who are not given this opportunity can feel like “second-class” citizens which might lead to them leaving the company. Now that the company has to make the decision whether or not to expand, there needs to be a plan on the way forward as well as a consensus on the real impact of telecommuting on the operations and long-term survival of the company.
Telecommuting
In economic terms, they do not want to suffer diseconomies of scale which is the negative connotations of expanding too quickly. The workers that are in the office already feel disconnected and mistreated from being in the office even in these early stages of the project. If we take a look at the workers who are working from home, they tend to be more isolated and fragmented and not part of the daily operations of the business. This is even causing some managers to question the existence of the program in general. They are not in control and it is difficult to manage the quality of the workers from home and the qualitative factors of working from home. For instance, the issue of overwork is always an issue because there is no separation from home. There is no clear separation from the two duties as expressed from one worker who was questioned by the Journal of Architectural and Planning Research in 1991, “Home life is chaotic, noisy and messy, but I have to have quiet to work. I have to separate the two. I can’t succumb to the temptation to work more. I’ve learned to put in my hours at my paid job, close the door, and then for the other hours do my other job of looking after my family, but I’m still torn in all directions. I’m really two people at home.
If there is a drop in employee morale so early on the project, the long term effects will be magnified. Although in India, there is a caste system in effect, when workers are not on the same level a sense of inequality and yearning comes into play. When workers feel inequality the overall production goes down which might hinder the program. Workers cannot contribute to the daily operation of the business and help workers that may be struggling. They become an independent unit and may be replaceable if the company decides to downsize, they might be the first to be replaced. They also do not contribute the ‘office life’ of the organization and provide effective communication. A major component of effective communication where workers can being up whatever concerns they are having to make work flows better. A survey conducted by HILDA in 2014 asked 3 questions that include: how flexible are they to balance work and non- work commitments? How many hours they work? And how satisfied they are with their job? Surprisingly the results were not as resounding as projected and offered some negative connotations. Workers found themselves spending a lot more hours on non-work commitments, they worked more hours from home and they had the same satisfaction level as someone who worked in the