Digital Europe Teleworkcasestudy

DEESD IST-2000-28606 Digital Europe: ebusiness and sustainable development
Telework and sustainable development A case study with the Global eSustainability Initiative (GeSI)
Final Report, April 2003
conducted by:
Karl Otto Schallabck & Iris Utzmann, Wuppertal Institute Vidhya Alakeson & Britt Jorgensen, Forum for the Future
This report constitutes the final version of the case study Telework and sustainable development - part of Deliverable 12 (D12) of the project DEESD Digital Europe: e-business and sustainable development
Project funded by the European Community under the Information Society Technology Programme (1998-2002)
Table of Contents
1. 2. READERS GUIDE ...........................................................................................................1 DEFINITIONS AND CLASSIFICATION..............................................................................2 2.1 DEFINITION OF TELEWORK .................................................................................................2 2.2 KINDS OF TELEWORK AND THEIR GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS ..................................................3 2.2.1 Home-based telework...........................................................................................3 2.2.2 Office-based telework...........................................................................................4 2.2.3 Mobile telework ....................................................................................................4 2.2.4 On-site telework ...................................................................................................5 2.2.5 Work in telecentres...............................................................................................5 2.3 DEFINITIONS USED BY ECATT............................................................................................6 3. SPREAD OF TELEWORK.................................................................................................8 3.1 CURRENT SPREAD OF TELEWORK IN EUROPE........................................................................8 3.2 EXPERIENCE OF GESI-PARTNERS ......................................................................................9 3.2.1 Telework ..............................................................................................................9 3.2.2 Teleconferencing ...............................................................................................10 3.3 ADDITIONAL DATA ..........................................................................................................10 3.3.1 Telework ............................................................................................................10 3.3.2 Teleconferencing ...............................................................................................11 3.4 POTENTIALS FOR THE FUTURE .........................................................................................11 3.4.1 Telework ............................................................................................................11 3.4.2 Teleconferencing ...............................................................................................13 4. TRANSPORT IMPACTS AND CHANGES........................................................................17 4.1 GENERAL APPROACH .....................................................................................................17 4.1.1 Transport saving ................................................................................................17 4.1.2 Rebound effects by adaptation..........................................................................19 4.1.3 Reasonable layout for telework ..........................................................................20 4.2 DETAILED ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................22 4.2.1 Experience from individual cases........................................................................22 4.2.2 Collected studies................................................................................................23 4.2.3 Macro data.........................................................................................................26 4.3 MODEL CALCULATIONS....................................................................................................30 4.3.1 Home-based telework: best case........................................................................30 4.3.2 Home-based telework: worst case ......................................................................32 4.3.3 Teleconferencing ...............................................................................................35 4.3.4 Mobile telework: Additional benefits from travel time ...........................................36 5. SOCIAL ASPECTS AND CHANGES SOCIAL ASPECTS AND CHANGES.......................37 5.1 HUMAN CAPITAL IN THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY...................................................................38 5.2 SOCIAL CAPITAL, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND TELEWORK ...............................................38 5.3 WORK/LIFE BALANCE......................................................................................................39 5.3.1 Work and family..................................................................................................39 5.3.2 Community involvement and social life................................................................40 5.3.3 Interrole conflict and working hours ....................................................................40 5.4 WORKING FROM HOME ...................................................................................................42 5.4.1 Isolation and social capital .................................................................................42 5.4.2 Performance ......................................................................................................43
Digital Europe case study on telework and sustainable development with GeSI
5.4.3 Learning ............................................................................................................44 5.5 CORPORATE SOCIAL CAPITAL............................................................................................45 5.6 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TELEWORK ................................................................................46 5.7 TELEWORK AND WORK IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY .................................................................50 6. 7. EVALUATION AND DEDUCTIONS..................................................................................52 RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................................................55
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................57
1. Readers Guide
The following report provides an overview of telework definitions and classifications and presents findings relating to the environmental (here: transport) and social impacts of telework. The report is structured according to the table below.
Table 1-1: The structure of the report. Chapter Description of content
2. 2.1 2.2 2.3 3. 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 4. 4.1 4.2 4.3 5. 5.1 5.2 6. 7.
Deals with the definition and classifications of telework. Explains the definition of telework used in this report Discusses the main kinds of telework and their characteristics Introduces the definitions used by the EcaTT- survey. Deals with the spread of telework in Europe Shows the current spread Describes the experience of GeSI partner companies Points at some additional experiences Discusses the future potentials Deals with the transport aspects and changes Discusses some general aspects Adds the analysis on the experience so far Discusses some model perspectives for the future Deals with the social aspects and changes Focuses on the social aspects of telework at a micro level Focuses on the social aspects of telework at a European level Collects deductions Articulates recommendations for business, policy and academics
Additionally, three appendices are attached. APPENDIX 1 adds a synopsis of the answers given by the industry partners from the Global eSustainability Initiative (GeSI). APPENDIX 2 supplements some empirical data from selected experiences with telework and APPENDIX 3 gives in-depth analysis of overall transport development since 1991 by transport purposes and by means of transportation, using macro data.
2. Definitions and classification

2.1 Definition of telework
The definitions of telework are many and varied. Research conducted by the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg identified several dozen definitions of the term telework in Germany alone. The European Commission defines telework or ework as: a method of organising and/or performing work in which a considerable proportion of an employees working time is: away from the firms premises or where the output is delivered; and when work is done using information technology and technology for data transmission, in particular the Internet. (European Commission, 2001b). Telework has two essential characteristics: Work that is carried out away from the designated place of work The change in location is made possible by the use of modern ICT
Work has always taken place in a variety of locations, from production plants and government offices to private homes and coffee shops. Any discussion of telework must differentiate between types of work and new working patterns, and changes of location that have been brought about by information and communication technologies (ICT). From a transport and social perspective, it is the change of location that is important rather than the use of ICT. Therefore, the use of ICT as a new work tool should only be defined as telework where there is an accompanying change in the location of work.
Figure 2-1: Main areas for potential spatial work shifts
Source: Wuppertal Institute, 2002
Figure 2-1 shows primary work locations and the main opportunities for shifts in work location. (note: telecentres are special units for ICT-based telework which are not under the control of one specific firm, but are used by employees from different enterprises). These main areas for spatial shifts will be described in more detail in Section 2.2. In addition, if ICT is used to a very limited extent and on a more or less occasional basis, this activity would not be included in the definition of regular telework. Similarly, ICT applications which contribute only marginally to work flow would not be included. On the other hand, if possible access to a particular ICT service is limited but decisive in enabling telework, this should be included. Some difficulties arise in relation to the use of telecommunications. Of course, the telephone was established long before the term ICT became widely used. Technological innovation has been a constant feature of the telecommunications sector. Mechanical components were replaced by electronic components at the central switching centres, the telecopy technologies evolved, etc. In this context, it may seem unconvincing to set the development of mobile telecommunications apart from earlier innovations. Opinion may change, bearing in mind the likely range of future services.
2.2 Kinds of telework and their general characteristics

2.2.1 Home-based telework
The possibility of working from home generates considerable interest. It opens up the possibility of a major transformation in working and living conditions with advantages for individuals, families and business. At times, it is taken to represent the full extent of telework options1. It is important to differentiate between home-based work and home-based telework. Working at home has been well established for many years and the use of office equipment such as faxes and computers has necessarily been a part of home-based working. However, ICT creates the opportunity for a more significant number of people to work from home, some or all of the time. It is possible to differentiate between the following types of home-based work: Work that traditionally takes place in the home whose location is not dependent on ICT. This kind of home-based work does not fit into the current definition of telework, although ICT may be used. Work where modern ICTs have created the possibility of home-based working. This covers new possibilities for freelancers and new jobs specifically based on ICT like (home-based) hotlines and similar services. This type of home-based work can be considered part of telework.
Sometimes home-based telework is not taken as telework at all; so the short summary on Telework in the United States: Telework America Survey 2001 starts: The influence of working at home on productivity is important to organizations considering the move to telework. In: ITAC, International Telework Association & Council, www.telecommute.org. from July 7, 2002 3
Work where a part of the job has traditionally been completed at home, such as teachers and managers. This increasingly includes the use of computers, the internet and other modern devices. But this is not considered telework since the focus of the respective work has not changed substantially. ICT may allow for an extension of such traditional part-time work at home. New part-time work at home facilitated by computers and the internet are the focus of the recent telework discussion. Alternate teleworking between home and company premises - generates new possibilities. This case study focuses particularly on this type of telework and defines regular home-based telework as working at least one day a week at home. In addition to regular telework, ICT allows many people to work at home on an occasional basis. Some studies refer to this as supplementary telework, arguing that supplementary teleworkers are potential future teleworkers. However, supplementary telework is too marginal to be taken into account in this report.
2.2.2 Office-based telework

By replacing business trips, teleconferencing has the potential to avoid many miles of travel. It also facilitates greater contact than may be possible if physical travel is required, and allows immediate contact. In this case study, teleconferencing applies to both audio- and videoconferences according to the study in question. In addition, the specific term webconferences is sometimes used. The telephone and teleconferencing have been established for many years. The main points of interest are, therefore, videoconferencing and web-based conferencing This may include examples where some participants are restricted to an audio channel or to written contributions transmitted by the web. The use of telecontrolling, telemaintaining and similar processes using remote access and control technologies are not often considered to be part of telework. From a transport perspective, the crucial question is whether traditional procedures are being substituted by technological innovations. There is limited evidence in this area and discussion in this case study will not go into depth. However, future research should investigate the options and challenges presented by such technologies since they may significantly alter overall work flows.
2.2.3 Mobile telework

Mobile use of ICT has been prominent since the early days of personal computing: think of the famous Osborne and Kaypro computers. In the intervening years, computers have become smaller and lighter and gained much of the functionality of desktop PCs. Todays laptops can be used as all-purpose computers. Improvements will follow a rapid growth curve and fresh concepts for even smaller and/or poweful devices, such as the OQO2 and others, look very promising. The opportunities for mobile work either on location or during travel have expanded enormously. In the case of some tasks completed on the move, ICT is used but is not
2
A full function 250 g computer based on Transmetas 1 GHz Crusoe with VGA touchscreen and ready for MS Windows XP prof; announced at the WinHEC in April 2002 by OQO, a San Francisco based company, for the second half 2002, cf. www.oqo.com 4
essential. Reading a newspaper from a PDA is effectively the same as reading a paper copy. However, more complicated tasks such as writing reports or preparing presentations are supported by ICT to the extent that it makes sense to include such activities within a definition of mobile telework. Of course, it can be difficult to make the distinction between tasks which use ICT and those only made possible by the use of ICT. Definitions will become more problematic in the future. The convergence of telephone and computer services will provide new devices for work as well as for leisure. However, the current use of mobile telephones for standard telephone calls or for restricted services like Short Message System (SMS) can be considered a standard work practice rather than specific to telework.
2.2.4 On-site telework

As in the case of home-based telework, traditional forms of on-site work should not be included within the definition of telework. Many tasks completed on-site will now use ICT equipment but they are not facilitated by ICT. On-site work facilitated by ICT refers to the use of office systems by remote connection from a clients premises, a conference centre or hotel.
2.2.5 Work in telecentres

The concept of telecentres has featured in debate for several years and is potentially interesting in certain situations, but it is unlikely to become a widespread form of telework. The falling price of computer hardware and the growth of internet connection points in public places means we are likely to lose interest in telecentres.3 Two related concepts may enjoy greater take-up. Easy internet access with additional services in hotels and possibly other venues may prove popular given greater mobility. In contrast to internet cafes, such venues would support the use of personal equipment and provide data storage, safe connections and some privacy for optical and acoustic displays. Such facilities may prove necessary to meet professional demands. Indeed, recent announcements indicate growing interest in and spread of such facilities.4 Small units outsourced to privately run offices may prove more popular than telecentres. The overhead costs of a mini-office would be much lower than a conventional telecentre with dedicated dispatching and service personnel. Overall, the terms of reference are changing rapidly as telework and work itself evolve. In the future, wireless internet access and the growth of a variety of net-based services may further weaken the traditional significance of location. Work location will be less significant than the option to work in different places.
Gareis and Korte, Proceedings of the Fourth International Telework Workshop, Tokyo 1999 This article rates distinguished telework-centres utterly useless in the contribution to ETOs current eWORK 2000 status report,
4
The Austrian access provider Metronet, for example, is now installing WLAN hot spots at airports in Salzburg, Linz and Graz, similar to the ones installed at Zurich, Frankfurt and Munich airports, cf. Aero International, July 2002, p. 21 5
2.3 Definitions used by ECaTT

The Electronic Commerce and Telework Trends (ECaTT) study was carried out by Empirica, beginning in spring 1999.5 For the study 7700 people and 4158 establishments in 10 European countries were questioned about telework. The 10 countries were Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK. The survey gives an overview of the current and potential future spread of telework in Europe and forms the basis of chapter 4 of the current eWork status report by the European Commission6. As the concepts and definitions used in the survey differ from those developed above, they are represented in detail in the table below (table 2-1) and will be discussed when interpreting the results.
Table 2-1: ECaTT definitions of different kinds of telework Organisational form Definition
7
Operationalisation in ECaTT
home-based telework
The place of Telework is the living environment of the employee
working at home, using telephone, fax and computer; excluding those who do not work at home for at least one full day per week
including: permanent work including: alternating telework
Telework in the stricter sense: those home-based teleworkers form of home-based telework who practise telework for at least where work is constantly carried 90 per cent of their working time out in the home Work at home alternates with presence in a central office those home-based teleworkers who practise telework for less than 90 per cent of their working time (but on at least one full working day per week, see above) derived from answers to: 1) out and about for 10 or more hours per week, 2) using online links while travelling derived from answers to: 1) selfemployed (or those who have extensive management powers), 2) working from home (or do not have a central workplace), 3) communicate with external contacts via e-mail, file transfer, shared databases or videoconferencing those who say they practise telework but do so for less than 1 working day per week
mobile telework
Frequent business travel using information and communication technology at a temporary or mobile workplace
Small office/home office Telework of self-employed whose main workplace is their (SOHO) office at home
Additional: Supplementary telework
Home-based telework which is exclusively carried out in addition to work in the office workplace
Empirica GmbH (2000): benchmarking telework in Europe 1999, Auswertung des Decision Maker Survey (DMS), Bonn; Empirica GmbH (2000): Telework data report (population survey) - ten countries in comparison , Bonn; Empirica GmbH (2000): Benchmarking Progress on new ways of working and new forms of business across Europe, Final Report, Bonn. In the following referred to as ECaTT survey 2001
6
Karsten Gareis and Werner B. Korte: Telework in Europe: Status Quo and Potential, Good Practice and Bad Practice; Chapter 4 in: European Union (eds): eWork 2000. Status Report on New Ways to Work in the Information Society; electronic version via www.eto.org.uk
7
Empirica, population survey, op.cit. p. 9 6
The main forms of telework constitute regular telework, while supplementary telework is additional. These definitions differ from those outlined in Section 2.2 (Definitions and Classification) of this paper as follows: The ECaTT definition of home-based telework includes traditional forms of telework. From a transport perspective, it is crucial to differentiate between changes in work location due to the development of ICT, and traditional home-based working. This distinction can be overlooked. Other significant differences concern the definition of mobile telework. On the one hand, the type of mobile working included in the definition is not specified. The term 10 or more hours out only earmarks the importance of mobility within the overall work context, and using online links while travelling does not define the kind, number or duration of online activities. As a result, the interpretation of the given figures is rather unclear. On the other hand, mobile telework while travelling, which is not dependent on online connections (such as for example reading, writing, working with data on a mobile PC) is excluded from the definition. Furthermore in contrast to the definitions given in Section 2.2, neither work in telecentres nor office-based telework (teleconferencing, telemaintaining) are considered by ECaTT. While ECaTT may be justified in excluding telecentres due to their limited significance, the exclusion of teleconferencing limits the scope of the study to a greater extent. The rationale behind the supplementary telework category is to identify potential future teleworkers. Those who say they already work at home, could easily be turned into real teleworkers.
3. Spread of telework
In the following section, the main results of the ECaTT survey of current teleworkers in Europe are shown. Then the experience of the answering companies from the Global sustainability Initiative (GeSI) and selected other projects will be characterised. Finally the future potentials are discussed.
3.1 Current spread of telework in Europe

The ECaTT-survey can be seen as the most relevant source for an overall inspection of the spread of telework in Europe. For an overview it is essential to look at absolute (numbers of teleworkers) and relative (percentage of labour force) figures. It was estimated that the 10 surveyed countries accounted for a total of 5.5 million teleworkers. Germany had the greatest number of teleworkers, ahead of the UK. The percentages for different types of telework can be seen from the following table 3-1.
Table 3-1: Types of regular telework: absolute numbers
Home-based telework Denmark Finland France Germany Ireland Italy Netherlands Spain Sweden UK EU 10 (absolute) EU 10 (percentages) 121,000 142,000 272,000 538,000 14,000 315,000 285,000 162,000 207,000 630,000 2,687,000 49 per cent
self-employed in SOHO 37,000 47,000 45,000 536,000 8,000 90,000 166,000 32,000 61,000 234,000 1,257,000 23 per cent
mobile telework 56,000 55,000 182,000 520,000 4,000 270,000 308,000 65,000 90,000 550,000 2,100,000 38 per cent
any kind of regular telework 176,000 229,000 499,000 1,562,000 26,000 584,000 593,000 259,000 313,000 1,273,000 5,515,000 110 per cent
The classification of the home-based teleworkers and the self-employed in SOHOs are unambiguous, while this is not the case for mobile teleworkers (mobile teleworkers may at the same time practise home-based telework or work as self-employed teleworkers in SOHOs). The penetration of telework in each country in relation to the labour force gives a different perspective from the absolute numbers, cf. figure 3-1. Penetration is particularly high in the Scandinavian countries, as well as in the Netherlands. In contrast to the absolute figures, Great Britain and Germany lie somewhere in the middle.
12
teleworkers in %
10 8 6 4 2
Netherlands Denmark Finland Sweden Germany France Ireland Spain UK
countries
Figure 3-1: Regular teleworkers in per cent of labour force
Source: ECaTT, 2001
3.2 Experience of GeSI-Partners

All of the GeSI partner companies who responded to the survey are major players in the fields of information and communications technologies. Hence, they are interested in pioneering solutions within their own companies that highlight the benefits of telework. As the results demonstrate, they are at least keeping pace with Europe-wide progress on telework, and some are ahead, having developed more advanced concepts of telework and teleconferencing. The approach of individual partners is discussed below.
3.2.1 Telework
Company E has the largest share of employees able to telework: every second employee is telework-enabled with full remote access to the corporate network. Company D has an interesting range of approaches to telework. The largest group of teleworking employees are employees enabled for cooperative work and so-called nomad workers and vendors, who have mobile net access. A smaller number of employees can be defined as typical full or part time home workers, or switching between different company offices. Together they represent one in eight employees, which is remarkable by todays standards. Company A identifies 3 per cent of employees worldwide to be teleworkers of any kind, which covers options to work from home, from convenient company offices, from customer sites as well as mobile working. For a number of employees no fixed offices are provided, and about three quarters of home based teleworkers are said to work permanently from home.
9
Italy
Finally, the status of telework in companies C and B is similar. From the available data, some 5,000 workers, representing about 5 per cent of the work force, are teleworkers in each case. In addition, figures on the commuting distances of teleworkers show that teleworkers typically travel between 35 and 60 kilometres (one way).
3.2.2 Teleconferencing
Teleconferencing primarily consists of audio- and videoconferencing. With respect to audioconferencing, company E provides full access for all employees which seems to be characteristic of the other companies. Additional data relating to the use of telephone conferences indicates that this kind of teleconferencing is widely established, with large numbers of regular conferences conducted. For videoconferencing, the picture is more complicated. In general, access and use fall behind the use of audio-conferences. Company D reports the largest number of videoconferences, with the majority point-to-point events rather than multi-point. The advantage of point-to-point video-conferencing is that it requires less complex technology than multi-point conferencing. This technology could be made broadly available for use by employees without much equipment or assistance. On the other hand, the benefits of point-to-point video-conferencing may not be sufficiently great to stimulate usage and employees may continue to rely on the telephone. Company B reports desktop-based availability for video-conferencing for those employees with high bandwidth connections. This is an interesting initiative that requires further investigation. Companies A and C run 70 and 42 video-conferencing suites respectively. While this is impressive, it highlights the fact that facilities are limited. Managing use of these suites necessitates significant administration, and usage tends to be lower compared to other new net-based services.
3.3 Additional data

3.3.1 Telework
As the ECaTT-survey shows, roughly 5 per cent of the labour force in Europe can be classified as teleworkers. The data given by the GeSI partners confirms this percentage, including mobile teleworkers. Additional selected examples show a broader range of percentage shares. In the early days of ICT-based teleworking it may have been creative people, in particular, writers, artists etc., who worked at home or in a pleasant location elsewhere, away from square offices. Since then things have changed: the general impression is that now many people performing mainly desk-oriented work such as those working for insurance companies, banking institutes, or parts of the administration, are enjoying the benefits of teleworking. A large number of projects was surveyed, with different individual experiences. In general, the projects are positive, and tend to get expanded. However, thre is great variety. In most cases, the number of teleworkers and their shares of all employed are not very high. The results for three insurance companies (Barmenia, Deutscher Herold, SIGNAL) may be rather typical, with about 15 to 40 teleworkers each, representing about 1 to 2 percent of the labour force in the head office. A significantly more intensive use of telework was recorded
10
at certain companies: at LVM, another insurance company, 400 employees are teleworking, from a total of 2,600. Additional data on the respective models installed and the experience made is given in APPENDIX 2.
Assessing the take-up of teleconferencing is more difficult. Telephone conferences are standard with general access for those who want it, while multi-point videoconferences remain a specialised service, available only on request on a limited basis. For Sweden, ARNFALK has surveyed four organisations practising videoconferences, cf. table 3-2.
Table 3-2: Respondents impression of the effect that their use of videoconferencing has had on their own and others business travel (*)
Telia Replaced my own travel Replaced other peoples travel Some reduction but only minor effect on my travel Participated in meetings that I would not have travelled to Increased my travel Number of persons answering this question 47 % 15 % 20 % 16 % 1% 158
SVUG 45 % 22 % 14 % 15 % 4% 73
Skanska Lantmnnen 58 % 25 % 17 % n.a. 0% 12
Tetra Pak (**) 61 % 19 % 39 % 19 % 3% 31
(*) The four Swedish organisations were the company Telia, the Scandinavian Videoconferencing User Group (SVUG), the farmers association Skanska Lantmnnen, and the Company Tetra Pak. (**) In the survey at Tetra Pak, the respondents had the possibility to check more than one alternative. Source: Peter ARNFALK: Virtual Mobility and Pollution Prevention, Lund University (Sweden) 2002, p. 56
The numbers of respondents gives a first clue on the spread of teleconferencing: it is obviously not very high, in particular outside the telecommunication sector or special interest groups. Another aspect may be a little amazing: the proportion between the shares of replaced my own travel and replaced other peoples travel. Even if it is just meetings of two parties, both shares should be about the same. So, the answers give a strong indication, that as yet the number of participants in videoconferencing is very small.
3.4 Potentials for the future

3.4.1 Telework
Guessing the future trends of telework should not be too difficult. The future demands for technical infrastructure are relatively predictable and in the meantime technical infrastructure represents a bottleneck only in rare cases. Future trends will, therefore, mainly depend on the working conditions of the employed people.
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Calculations of the potential numbers of teleworkers had to be based on grouping employees into professional groups. Evidently the kind of work conducted determines whether the work can be carried out using ICT-installations at home and the Internet and to what extent. Unfortunately, most employment statistics do not focus on the professions of the workers, but on the industry groups in which they are employed. Calculations are therefore based on German data, where breakdowns by professional groups are available. Comparing the breakdown by industry codes between different countries confirmed that the German data could serve as a proxy for the rest of Europe, though differences between the countries do exist. As an example the shares for the labour-force working in the sectors of agriculture, horticulture, fishing etc. vary significantly, but represent minor portions anyway. The 1992 edition of the German classification of professional groups divides the labour force into roughly 100 professional groups. Thereof the groups 60-61, 64, 67-69, 75-78, 82 and 88 would be able to telelwork. The respective figures of employed persons are reported in the table 5-3. (While the numbers are based on the official statistics8, the English nomenclature is not official, but results from a quick translation). Together the relevant groups respresent about 30 to 35 per cent of all employed persons.
Table 3-3: Employed persons by selected professional groups in 1000, Germany, April 2001 (table extract of relevant professional groups)
No. 60 61 64 67 68 69 75 76 77 78 82 88
professional group engineers analytical chemists, physicists, mathematicians researcher and similar professions mercantile professions (not including shopkeepers) salesmen employees within the banking & insurance sectors managing, consulting and controlling personnel representatives, administrative personnel accountants, computer scientists office personnel, assisting personnel writers and translators scientific professions selected professions all professions share of selected professions by per cent
total 979 100 126 1,066 339 930 1,494 315 1,195 4,576 217 301 11,638 36,816 31.61
male 878 82 49 557 216 464 1,043 192 615 1,226 101 180 5,603 20,629 27.16
female 101 27 77 508 123 466 452 123 580 3,349 117 121 6,044 16,187 37.34
source: Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistical Office, Germany) Statistisches Jahrbuch 2002 (statistical yearbook 2002) p. 107
Of course, not all of them will actually have working conditions that would allow for conducting significant parts of their work in private homes. Additionally, not all of the respective employees may be willing to transfer professional working to the private sphere. However, the statistics should give a clear impression of the hypothetical size of a teleworking labour-force. For calculation needs, one can presuppose that about 75 to 80 per
8
Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistical Office, Germany): Statistisches Jahrbuch 2002 (statistical yearbook 2002) p. 107. 12
cent of telework-capable employees have some kind of teleworkable working conditions. This assumption is supported by the figures provided by Postel-Vinay9 for France. The ECaTTsurvey gives a far higher estimation, calculating that potential teleworkers make up two thirds of the total labour force. The high estimation is a consequence of the criterion used in the ECaTT survey, which classifies work that can be teleworked as any work where at least six hours per week is conducted at a desk. It does not seem very realistic to base the potentials for regular telework on this criterion. However it does give a hint as to the potential for sporadic home-based telework.
It is rather difficult, to estimate the future potentials of teleconferencing, because of two problems: The number of events, which potentially might be converted to or realised as some kind of teleconferencing, is not very clear. The technical layout and the future availability of advanced teleconferencing is not very clear.
The table below is a simplifistic illustration of how bandwidth affects the potential of teleconferencing. Table 3-4: Areas of teleconferencing
Point-to point Low bandwidth High bandwidth (traditional) telephone Video-telephone Multipoint Audio-conference Video-conference
Traditional telephone use between two people is not normally qualified as an area of teleconferencing. The traditional telephone is in common use and not a new ICT-solution, though it can contain advanced ICT devices. Audio-conferences connecting more than two points to each other have been widely available for many years. The use of this solution is as easy as the usability is limited. Due to mutual interference created by people speaking simultaneously, either the number of participants should be very small, which makes the solution similar to the point-to-point approach, or, clear rules, for instance, a strict hierarchical pattern should be used. Such rules restrict the free flow of conversation possible in a normal meeting. However, the benefits of this option seem clear even if they do not provide an exciting promise for the future. Several other communication structures use low bandwidths and show relevant merits, in particular internet-based services like e-mail and live-chat. Though they have changed business and scientific procedures, and to a growing extent private lives, these applications do not really qualify as teleconferencing.
Postel-Vinay, Gregoire (2002): Can telework save energy? A French outlook, paper presented at the IEAconference The Future Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on the Energy System, Paris, February 21-22, 2002; presentation available over the IEA-homepage. 13
Point-to-point connections that include a video-stream are becoming more and more used. It would seem that many such systems are installed in private homes and for the most part not used a great deal. This is probably because cheap components are used and the systems suffer from low quality standards. Taking an optimistic view, it is possible that bandwidth problems will be overcome relatively soon and enhanced components rapidly become available. Nevertheless, the real advantages of point-to-point video streaming will be limited in comparison to traditional point-to-point solutions. The progress made and the benefits offered by the described solutions are undoubtedly considerable, particularly when considered together and bearing in mind further features which are likely to be developed. Nevertheless, fantasy and practical interest focus on broad bandwidth multipoint solutions like real videoconferences. Until now, proper solutions, at low cost and with easy access are not available, and not really on the horizon. The technical requirements grow significantly with the number of points to be connected. Based on an actual point-to-point connection between all participants, necessary bandwidth will grow exponentially according to the number of users. Based on a hub-andspoke topology, the necessary bandwidth will grow linearly with the number of participants, providing a single upload channel to the hub and multiple download channels from there in each case. Unlike standardised solutions, proprietary solutions predominate so far. The following series of diagrams may give an impression of how the structures have evolved. As part of a research project, over several years, a videoconference was installed at the heads of Bavarian (university) computer centres. The diagrams (figure 3-2 to 3-5), from the final project report,10 show the development of the installed net topology and indicate the number of channels opened respectively. The gain in efficiency from the first approach to the final state is remarkable. This should illustrate that a comparatively simple structure can be easily developed, whereas to develop a structure that provides easy access and general usability is a far more demanding task.
Figure 32: TKBRLZ number of datastreams 10/96 03/97
10
F. WOLF, ed. (1999): TKBRZL Telekonferenz der Bayerischen Rechenzentrumsleiter (Teleconference of the heads of Bavarian computer centres), Mitteilungsblatt des RegionalenRechenZentrums Erlangen (Journal of the regional computer centre Erlangen) Nr. 73, Erlangen 1999 14
Figure 33: TKBRLZ number of datastreams 04/97 10/98
Figure 34: TKBRLZ number of datastreams from 11/98
Figure 3-5: TKBRLZ number of datastreams, as eventually foreseen for 1999
The answers provided by the GeSI-partners give no clear indication of when quick and easy access for a broader user group and at any location will become a real possibility. On the demand side, uncertainties also exist. In contrast with commuter trips, which, on a peremployee basis, normally show only small variations, potentials for conferences, meetings etc. may vary vastly. Whereas the number of real business trips, and travelled distances they require, have natural limitations, the possible number of virtual meetings is limitless. Though it is not the same, the comparison of the number of real letters and of e-mails sent may give an idea. Therefore, it seems unreasonable to speculate on future trends in the use of videoconferencing. In the short term, the numbers will remain rather marginal, compared to
15
other means of communication including real conferences and meetings. In the long term, the result may be completely different. Interestingly, for the coming five years the growth rate in revenues on voice and data conferencing infrastructure is estimated to be higher than that of video11.
11
cf. Wainhouse Research: Conferencing Markets & Strategies 2001, Volume 1, p.17, Wainhouse Research, LLC, Brookline, MA (USA) 16
4. Transport impacts and changes

Any assessment of the future development of technology must take into consideration the three dimensions of ecological, social and economic sustainability. Economic benefits tend to be the driving force behind the development of new technological solutions. In the case of telework, teleconferencing and mobile ICT use, pilot projects and experience indicate that economic benefits may arise from the following: more efficient use of time and space; faster results for urgent tasks; Immediacy of contact and responses to questions and decisions.
The roll out of telework will increase the potential for greater economic benefits to be gained at lower cost. Social and ecological sustainability can act as a driver as well as an inhibitor. It is, therefore, essential to factor it in at an early stage in the development of a technology, in order to identify and avoid obstacles and rebound effects. Section 4 of this case study will discuss the impacts of telework on transport activities and will outline opportunities for reducing the environmental impact of transport, whilst identifying any potential increases in environmental impact through telework. Section 5 will discuss the social impacts of telework on individual teleworkers, companies and at the European society level.
4.1 General Approach

4.1.1 Transport saving
Transport savings from telework have been a key issue in discussions. The reduction of commuting distances seems an obvious outcome if office-based work is substituted by homebased work. But as discussed in chapter 2, this is not the case with all types of home-based work, as mobile, alternating, SOHO and supplementary telework will not necessarily reduce commuting distance (see table 2-1 for explanations of the types of telework). Reduced commuting is significant for two reasons: a) Reduced traffic flow saves energy and reduces toxic exhaust fumes b) Less rush hour traffic reduces traffic jams and reduces the costs and environmental impacts caused by expanding the road network. However the effects should not be overestimated. Using Germany as an example12, commuting accounts for about a sixth of overall passenger transport activity (passenger kilometres travelled). The general outlook for the future indicates that commuting will decline further as a share of overall transport activity, due to a decrease in the volume of labour, and the growth of leisure-related transport. Therefore, even significant reductions in commuting will make only a modest contribution to changes in the transport balance.
12
Hard data providing a breakdown of national transport activity by purpose are rare, even the German data suffer from some minor shortcomings. 17
Any reduction in rush hour traffic is of local relevance, particularly in bigger cities, but is less important for rural areas. Drawing general conclusions in this area is of limited value as huge local variations exist. Moreover, teleworkable commuter trips now account for a smaller proportion of rush hour congestion as working hours have become more flexible and varied. The nine to five pattern remains a daily reality for some but not many. In general, the extent of congestion can be overstated.13 Similarly, there are potential transport savings to be made from teleconferencing, telemaintaining and so on. According to German data for 1999, business trips account for approximately 20 per cent of overall transport activity. In comparison to commuting, the number of business trips is lower but mean, median and variance in distances travelled are far higher. Business flights represent a small percentage of business trips but accounts for about half the business distance travelled, and a much greater share of its impacts. The number of business trips looks set to rise steadily as business becomes increasingly global. In the long run, teleconferencing could make a significant contribution to reducing transport and its associated environmental impacts, particularly where it facilitates long distance communication and substitutes for air travel. Nevertheless, it is widely understood that teleconferencing cannot fully substitute for business trips. Just as home-based teleworkers and their colleagues need some personal interaction to maintain an effective working relationship, personal relations will continue to underpin business contacts. We will return to this in Section 5 in our discussion of the social impacts of telework. Figure 4-1(below) shows the actual distribution of passenger transport in Germany by activity according to the number of trips made and passenger kilometres. While geographical, social and cultural differences across Europe should not be disregarded, these figures can serve as a proxy for modern economies in Europe. The graph is based on data from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin, but includes an estimation of distances flown. These are not represented in the original data, which covers only flight activity within national boundaries.14 If air travel is restricted to flights within Germany, commuting makes up about 20 per cent of transport activity and business trips about 16 per cent. Interestingly, the effect of including foreign air travel is to reverse the percentages for commuting (about 16 per cent of transport activity) and business activity (about 20 per cent of transport activity). Environmentally speaking, it is important to consider the full extent of air travel.
13
for a critical approach cf. ECMT - Round table 110 Traffic Congestion in Europe, Paris (OECD) 1999. Traffic congestion is not a major problem on an avergage basis, representing only a very small share of traffic situations, despite the big role of the topic in the public discussion.
14
Deutsches Institut fr Wirtschaftsforschung, Berlin: Verkehr in Zahlen 2001/2002 (German Institute for Economic Research, Berlin: Transport in Figures 2001/2002), ed. by the German Federal Minister on Transport. The publication and the figures are updated annually. Additional data on distance structure and further structural elements are provided by the so-called KONTIV-studies, which are conducted in bigger intervals. 18
Passenger Trips and Transport Activity (passenger-km) by Purpose - Germany 1999 -
holidays 16,3 %
commuting 16,4 %
holidays 0,2 % leisure 38,1 %
commuting 19,3 %
education 4,0 %
education 7,6 % business 8,7 %
leisure 33,6 %
business 20,5 %
shopping 26,2 %
shopping 9,2 %
Totals: 95.5 bill. trips (inside) und 1243 bill. pass.-km (outside); air transport incl. estimated foreign trip sections Source: DIW, Verkehr in Zahlen 2001/2002; own calculations
Figure 4-1: Passenger Trips and Transport Activity by Purpose
4.1.2 Rebound effects by adaptation

Whereas potential rebound effects of telework will be discussed in detail later, the aim here is to highlight a more general experience: that initially positive effects sometimes turn to adverse effects after a while, due to structural conditions. A certain kind of adaptation is one of the mechanisms responsible for such processes: a new machine, procedure or regulation will often call for the intended positive effects as a first result. Later on, the positive effect may get anticipated in the respective dispositions and compensated under the rule of a constant load principle. While this reaction tends to spirit the benefits away, negative effects may appear not mentioned in the adaptive decisions. The following table 4-1 gives an impression of potential rebound effects on social, environmental and regional issues caused by adaptation to telework and teleshopping. Both of them seem to support the effect of each other.
Table 4-1: Potential turns on the impacts of telework and teleshopping
19
Area of impact Social
Short-term impact Mainly advantages by enhanced accessibility Potentials for transport savings Stabilising regional structures
Long-term impact Advantages and disadvantages because of greater distances Disadvantages because of increases in transport use Scattered structures
Environmental Regional development

Source: Wuppertal Institute
Socially, the initial effect of telework and teleshopping may be positive, allowing better access to the markets for labour and for goods: as far as distance plays a role, e-technologies enhance the possibilities making distance negligible. If, within an adaptive process, living conditions turn to activity patterns on an increased spatial scale, greater distances will also provide disadvantages. Undoubtedly, the burden on the environment gets reduced, when a person substitutes some commuter trips for electronic information transport. However, if this person accepts greater distances when next moving or changing workplace, because he/she has to make commuter trips less frequently, it is possible that the net effect on the environment will be negative. Similarly, enhanced access to labour and goods made possible by telework and teleshopping may stabilize present regional structures, in particular in disadvantaged regions. However, in the long run, neglecting the distances because of ICT may lead to neglecting any regional structures, if adapted as a general habit. These negative long-term developments do not make for an attractive future but they do not seem unlikely. It is therefore vitally important that such structural rebound effects are given close consideration.
4.1.3 Reasonable layout for telework

The paragraph above may already have made plain that the effects of telework will depend upon, not just whether, but how developments are realised. The experience of home-based telework allows for some general advice referring to the layout of telework organisation. A s many authors discuss, the demand for additional workspace and equipment at home and the respective savings in the office are a central element in an overall evaluation in terms of space, energy, material, and money.15 From the point of view of transport, the most important consideration is whether telework at home covers whole days, or only parts of days, as emphasized by ARNFALK.16 This leads to three classes of home-based telework with a reasonable layout as described in table 4-2.
15
E.g. cf. Gregoire POSTEL-VINAY (2002): Can telework save energy? A French outlook, paper presented at the IEA-conference The Future Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on the Energy System, Paris, February 21-22, 2002; presentation available over the IEA-homepage
16
cf. ARNFALK, Peter (2002): Virtual Mobility and Pollution Prevention, Lund, p. 80 20
Table 4-2: Classes of home-based telework
Class
Description Office space & equipment 1 day/week of Home-based telework 50 : 50%
Influence on Living space & equipment Commuting distance
Not significant Reduction by 50 %
Low
Low
Home-based v. office-based:
Perceptible
Medium
1 day/week of Office-based work
Reduction to 20 % Considerable High
Class A represents the low case, where the maximum number of days per week worked at home is on average one. In this case, the need for space and equipment in the normal office doesnt usually change. This may be reasonable as long as there are no significant additions required in the home. This is not implausible because computers with Internet access are becoming increasingly common place in private homes. With reference to transport, one day per week of not commuting is unlikely to have a significant influence on a persons decisions regarding the distance they will accept between their home and office. Class B determines the medium case, with about half the working time in the external office and half at home. This solution seems reasonable, particularly if two persons share the same office space. In this case, the additional space and equipment there can be overlooked. On the other hand, some additional requirements at the working-places in the private homes are worth mentioning, but might not amount to the savings made at the external office. With regard to technical equipment, additional demands at home and savings in the office may roughly balance each other. Clearly, when employees have to go to the office only every second day or week, accepted commuting distances will rise. Class C describes the high case in which the teleworking person goes to the external office just once a week or even less frequently. Providing a full working place at the external office when the employee is not present does not seem very reasonable. Flexible, ambulant solutions could meet the demands at lower cost. Conversely, full supply of a working place at home will be required. However, this could be arranged using less space compared to an office-based working place, due to the functional benefits provided by a home environment. The accepted commuting distance will increase significantly given the situation of commuting just once a week, or coming to the office once in the fortnight, with a single stay over night there.
21
Reality, as we all know, does not always follow reasonable plans, and as present experience shows, the solutions chosen are far less effective in terms of space, energy and equipment used. The exercise, however, may have shown what the potentials for optimising might be.
4.2 Detailed Analysis

The next paragraph refers firstly to the experience of GeSI partner companies and other individual cases. Then, the layout and result of several panel studies are shown. Finally, the development of commuting and business travel since 1991 is discussed using macro data.
4.2.1 Experience from individual cases

Data provided by the GeSI-companies relating to the impacts of telework and teleconferencing on transportation is limited. Reported commuting distances for teleworkers of between 20 and 40 miles one-way would seem to be above the median commuting distance for all employees. Only one company provided travel figures relating to teleconferencing. Teleconferences replaced 1,313 miles of travel and one out of every four teleconferences was said to be incremental or complementary rather than substitutional. But again, it is difficult to draw general conclusions from these findings. Analysis of the impacts of mobile telework on transport is even more speculative. The only company reporting a large number of mobile workers seems to have traditionally had a large number of mobile workers. In order to draw conclusions about the impact on transport, it would be necessary to differentiate between traditional and ICT-enabled mobile work Of the other collected examples (cf. Appendix 1) the case of LVM, an insurance company based in Mnster, Germany, stands out because of the high number of 400 teleworkers there. The LVM evaluation concludes that telework leads to a reduction in transport intensity and quantifies the transport impacts as follows: 1. total transport saving due to reduced trips to (and from) work: 1,800,000 km per year on average (average daily distance: 21km, 400 teleworkers, 220 working days/year) 2. filtering out motorised transport: 1.440.000 km per year on average 3. taking into account side and rebound effects: a) reduction of car occupancy, b) trips which could be combined with trips to and from work, (in sum 19km weekly per teleworker) c) trips made by family members because of car availability: (in sum 72km weekly per teleworker) in total: 640.000 km/year (all 400 teleworkers, 44 weeks/year) 4. real total transport saving:
22
800.000 km/year
4.2.2 Collected studies

Home based telework A current panel study of the German Bundesanstalt fr das Straenwesen (Federal Highway Research Institute) on the effects of telework on travel behaviour17 also discusses other panel studies on the same issue (cf. Table 4-3).
17
Walter Vogt, Stefan Denzinger et al. (2001): Auswirkungen neuer Arbeitskonzepte und insbesondere von Telearbeit auf das Verkehrsverhalten (effects of new concepts of work, and in particular of telework on travel behaviour), Bremerhaven 2001, pp.103f
23
Table 4-3: Panel surveys on teleworking and mobility
Subject Method
USA 2-step panel survey; 0 - 6 month before, and 10 13 month after, using transport diaries over 3 days and a household questionnaire 2 years, Jan 1988 to Dec 1989 73 41 years 64 : 36 n.a. n.a. 1.5 days per week
NL 4-/5-step panel survey; 2 weeks before, in 3month-intervals after, using transport diaries over 7 days and a household questionnaire 1 year, Mar 1990 to Mar 1991 30 n.a. 23 : 77 mean 2.75 persons mean 1.25 1.2 days per week
GB 2-step panelsurvey; 1 month before, and 5 6 month after, using transport diaries over 7 days and a household questionnaire 2 years, 1995 to 1997 24 n.a. n.a. mean 2.96 persons mean 1.85 1.4 days per week
D 2-step panelsurvey; 1 month before, and 6 month after, using transport diaries over 7 days and a household questionnaire 3 years, 1997 to 1999 80 40 years 50 : 50 mean 3.0 persons mean 1.5 1.6 full days per week plus 0.8 mixed days per week teleworkers: 22,5 km national mean 13.7 km 67 per cent
project duration
participants (teleworkers) mean age gender relation, male : female household size pass. cars per household mean working time at home
commuting distance
teleworkers: 32 km regional mean: 17 km
teleworkers: 3 to 4 times Dutch mean n.a.
teleworkers: 38 km national mean: 13 km 96 per cent
commuting: share 80 per cent of car drivers
n.a. = not available Source: Walter Vogt, Stefan Denzinger et al. (2001): Auswirkungen neuer Arbeitskonzepte und insbesondere von Telearbeit auf das Verkehrsverhalten (effects of new concepts of work, and in particular of telework on travel behaviour), Bremerhaven 2001, pp.103f
The surveys show a range of similar results, but also some differences. The commuting distances are in general greater than the regional averages. This is also the case in other individual case studies. Also the number of home working days lie in a similar range. On the other hand, the gender distribution reveals no pattern. While the weekly commuting distances themselves get reduced, the results on further consequences differ to some extent. The US and the Dutch projects show a reduction in the number of trips realised and the distances travelled by other members of the teleworkers household, which cannot be seen in the German survey. Similarly the US and the Dutch studies do not suggest higher car use by other household members on the teleworking days, whereas the German study claims a growth in car use of 16 per cent. The Dutch study shows a remarkable reduction in the use of public transport and bicycles. The German study confirms this for public transport, but discovers that bicycles were used
24
more intensively by teleworkers as well as by other household members. The number of bicycle rides taken by teleworkers grew by 45 per cent on teleworking days, and the number of walks by 33 per cent, though both results are not significant. The US study states that the contraction of the radius of activities is about the same on teleworking and other days, whereas the German study focuses the contraction particularly to teleworking days. The US and the British projects ascertain, that telework influences the choice of living place, extending the distances between private homes and traditional workplaces. The German study cannot confirm this phenomenon, though the authors emphasize, that the research period was too short to show this sort of phenomenon in a significant way. As a result, according to the German study, the distances travelled by teleworkers drop by a significant 7.7 kms daily, for all days excluding vacational periods (which are estimated by the authors as 35 days per year). Therefore, the saved distance travelled annually per teleworker comes to 2,541 km. On the basis of figures claiming that 540,000 people are performing alternating telework in Germany, ECaTT estimate that a total of 1.37 billion passenger kilometres were saved in Germany, in 1999. This corresponds to 0.9 per cent of the total commuting distance travelled, and 0.2 per cent of all passenger kilometres. Teleconferencing Arnfalk (2002) gives an overview of several estimations of the substitution potential of teleconferencing, (cf. table 4-4). In addition he points at a Canadian study by Roy and Filiatraut (1998), which has estimated the current impact of videoconferencing at 1.8 per cent and the potential effect on business air travel in 2000 at 3.6 8.6 per cent.
Table 4-4: Selected estimations on the substitution potential of teleconferencing
Region Ireland US Canada Germany and UK US
Substitution potential 30 per cent of total business travel 20 per cent of total business travel 20 per cent of total business travel 35 per cent of total business travel
Date of estimation 1978 1983 1983 1985
Source Rapp and Skamedal 1996 Rapp and Skamedal 1996 Rapp and Skamedal 1996 Rapp and Skamedal 1996 Cook and Haver
25 per cent of 1994 business air travel until 2010 reduction of 15 per cent of air travel and up to 40 per cent of business travel 1995
Roy and Filiatrault 1998
Source: Peter Arnfalk (2002): Virtual Mobility and Pollution Preventing, Lund University 2002, p. 54
Together with the impressions of participants in teleconferencing as reported in table 3-2 above, these estimations support a rather optimistic view. However, it is not discussed in detail, to what extent the business trips saved by teleconferencing together with other business trips physically conducted are basically generated or enabled by access to current
25
ICT. In particular the reported results from a 1995 estimation by Arthur D. Little may astonish, claiming directly for a reduction of business trips. Though such developments may be likely for individual persons or companies, it does not meet the general view of the future of business travel.
4.2.3 Macro data

Studies on individual cases as well as collected studies available on telework and transport in general cover only small numbers of teleworkers. For example, the German study dealt with in the paragraph above used as its basis the questionnaires and transport diaries of 80 persons, out of a total of some 540,000 performing alternating telework, yet it claims to represent the biggest panel study on the issue. Moreover, the studies are not based on probabilistic sampling, but on a composition of participants as available by chance. Therefore it will be a good exercise, to compare the specific studies on telework and transport with macro data, in particular, to give an idea of the extent to which the suggested outcome could be verified. Since proper EU-wide data was not available, the analysis is based on German data for the decade 1991 to 2000 and focuses on two transport purposes: commuting and business trips, referring to home-based telework and to teleconferencing, respectively. The full scope is included in Appendix 2, attached to the study. When comparing the data presented here with data for other countries, it should be remembered that the estimations modelled here cover all transport means, including non-motorised transport means, and take into account the complete distances travelled, in particular stretches outside national territory made by air transport18. While this is not relevant for commuting in Germany, it is very important for business travel as well as for the overall view.
Home-based telework and commuting The overall distance travelled for commuting is growing though not very fast, (cf. table 4-5). That the last three years represent the highest figures, does not support the thesis which suggests that transport savings have been made because of telework.
Table 4-5: Commuting Distance travelled in billion passenger kms for Germany
18
Confirmed statistical data for the full air distances travelled in the break-down by transport purpose are missing. Private and business trips go over all distance bands. But the private air travel has a special focus in the middle distance band, because of the high numbers of vacational trips oriented to the Mediterranean. Business trips on the other hand seem to have a special focus to shorter, European relations as well as to longer, intercontinental relations. To represent the magnitudes correctly, both private and business trips here are calculated with the same average distance of 2,500 km. Despite some other correction possibly necessary, this does not reflect the general but weak trend to rise the average distances. As a result, the growth rates for air distances travelled as reported here tend to be a little conservative. 26
by feet 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
by bicycle 5.0 4.7 4.4 4.2 4.1 4.1 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
p.t. road 24.8 23.1 21.9 20.6 19.8 19.7 19.5 19.5 19.3 19.7
p.t., rail 17.4 17.2 17.2 22.6 23.5 22.8 21.8 21.4 22.3 22.3
Car driver 136.5 139.2 139.1 134.8 137.2 139.2 140.2 142.0 145.1 143.9
Car pass. 12.7 12.4 12.2 11.6 11.5 11.3 11.2 11.3 11.5 11.4
Air (1) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Total (1) 198.8 198.9 197.0 196.0 198.1 199.2 198.7 200.2 204.2 203.3
Air (2) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Total (3) 198.8 198.9 197.0 196.0 198.1 199.2 198.7 200.2 204.2 203.3
(1) over national territory; (2) outside national territory; (3) incl. estimated full length of air trips source: German Institute for Economic Research; Wuppertal Institute; cf. Appendix 2, below
An analysis per employed person provides more reliable figures, as the absolute numbers include changes in the extension of the overall labour force. Therefore, table 4-6 (below) shows the annual number of commuter trips per employed person. These numbers again show a maximum at the end of the reported period, though it is very weak and may be an artefact of the modelling procedure, and therefore should not be interpreted as a significant change. However, the hypothesis of reduced commuter trip intensity as a consequence of the spread of telework cannot be verified.
Table 4-6: Commuter trips per employed person, Germany
by feet 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 63 60 58 57 55 55 55 55 55 54
by bicycle 52 50 48 46 45 45 44 44 44 43
p.t., road 54 52 51 50 47 47 46 46 45 45
p.t., rail 17 17 17 19 20 19 19 19 19 19
Car driver 280 286 292 299 301 304 307 313 316 312
Car pass. 29 29 29 28 27 26 26 26 26 26
Air 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 495 494 495 498 495 496 497 503 505 498
source: German Institute for Economic Research; Wuppertal Institute; cf. Appendix 2, below
Table 4-7 deals with the distances travelled for commuting per employed person. This time series shows a more distinct path upwards, representing an average growth rate of about 0.5 per cent per year. The growth is mainly a result of the ongoing substitution of shorter trips by non-motorised modes with longer trips as a car driver. The decline in the final year can be interpreted as an elastic reaction to the price escalation of automotive fuels. This is confirmed by the more intense reactions in fields such as shopping and leisure trips, which are known for their higher price-elasticities. So, the distances travelled do not give evidence of a significant transport saving as a result of home-based telework.
27
Table 4-7: Commuting: distance travelled per employed person, km, Germany
by feet 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 64 62 60 58 56 56 56 56 55 55
by bicycle 134 127 121 116 114 114 112 112 110 109
p.t., road 662 625 602 571 550 547 545 544 530 538
p.t., rail 465 466 473 626 652 634 609 597 613 609
Car driver 3,645 3,768 3,823 3,736 3,808 3,868 3,916 3,960 3,986 3,931
Car pass. 339 336 335 322 319 314 313 315 316 311
Air (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total (1) 5,309 5,385 5,415 5,433 5,498 5,536 5,550 5,583 5,610 5,554
Air (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total (3) 5,309 5,385 5,415 5,433 5,498 5,536 5,550 5,583 5,610 5,554
In addition, the potential effects of changes to the working hours per employee were surveyed. If the working hours per employee and so the number of working days rises, a growth in the number of commuting trips and distances travelled would be the expected consequence. The data shows the opposite, because the number of working hours drops faster than the number of employed persons. As a result, the number of commuting trips per working hour goes up with an annual rate of about 0.5 per cent, and the distance travelled per working hour rises with a growth rate of about 1 per cent per year. As long as sinking working hours per employee are combined with growing commuting distances per employee, we should not expect significant transport savings due to home-based telework.
Teleconferencing and business trips For business trips, a similar approach is chosen. Firstly, the overall distances travelled are shown in table 4-8. The clear overall growth of about a quarter originates in particular from 1994 on and is fed mostly by growing air travel. Though the figures given here for air travel outside national territory represent a rather rough estimation, they make clear, that the overall picture is significantly distorted by neglecting international flights. However, while the estimated figures may not be very proper, the tendency is described correctly. What the figures show is that the distance travelled for business trips rises in line with growing competence in teleconferencing.
Table 4-8: Business trips, Distance travelled, in billion passenger kms for Germany
28
by feet 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
by bicycle 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
p.t., road 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1
p.t., rail 5.6 5.9 6.1 6.8 7.3 7.9 7.7 7.6 7.8 7.9
Car driver 122.9 124.9 125.2 121.8 121.7 122.8 125.1 126.3 127.3 127.4
Car pass. 5.9 5.9 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.1 6.1 6.1
Air (1) 9.6 10.9 10.4 10.6 12.8 13.4 14.1 15.2 16.9 18.1
Total (1) 148.0 151.6 151.7 149.2 151.6 153.9 156.7 159.0 161.8 163.3
Air (2) 57.9 61.6 62.1 59.4 72.2 74.1 78.4 84.8 93.1 99.4
Total (3) 205.9 213.2 213.8 208.6 223.8 228.0 235.1 243.8 254.9 262.7
The following table 4-9 surveys the number of business trips per employee. Unlike commuting which is more or less constant at about 500 trips per employed person, the annual business trips per employee grew by about 10 per cent because of additional trips conducted as car drivers. Interestingly, the numbers have not changed remarkably since 1997. This could indicate that a few business trips otherwise realised were not felt necessary as a consequence of contact supported by modern telecommunication. Also possible might be that the figures merely represent stochastic fluctuations, maybe in combination with variations in the performance of more and less business trip-oriented industries. Special attention should be drawn to air trips which remain at 1 trip per employee per year, due to rounding. A more accurate inspection shows, that the growth rate there is the highest of all, near to 80 per cent from 0.7 to 1.3 annual trips per employee.
Table 4-9: Business trips per employed person, Germany
by feet 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8
by bicycle 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
p.t., road 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
p.t., rail 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3
Car driver 183 186 191 197 194 195 200 203 202 201
Car pass. 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Air 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Total 209 212 217 223 221 223 227 230 229 228
source: German Institute for Economic Research; Wuppertal Institute; cf. Appendix 2, below
As with commuting, the distances travelled per employee rose more than for the complete labour force, because of the reduction of employed persons during the reported time period. Overall growth does not weaken because of the growth of air transport, which by far outpaces the minor fluctuations in car driving (cf. table 4-10).
29
Table 4-10: Business trips: distance travelled per employed person, km, Germany
by feet 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 8 8 8 8 8 9 8 8 8 8
by bicycle 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
p.t., road 91 92 93 91 92 92 87 86 85 85
p.t., rail 150 160 168 188 203 220 215 212 214 216
Car driver 3,282 3,381 3,441 3,376 3,378 3,413 3,494 3,522 3,497 3,480
Car pass. 158 160 165 166 167 167 168 170 168 167
Air (1) 256 295 286 294 355 372 394 424 464 494
Total (1) 3,952 4,104 4,170 4,136 4,208 4,277 4,376 4,434 4,445 4,461
Air (2) 1,546 1,668 1,707 1,646 2,004 2,059 2,190 2,365 2,558 2,716
Total (3) 5,498 5,772 5,877 5,782 6,211 6,336 6,566 6,799 7,002 7,177
The additional calculations of numbers per working hour influence the results in a similar w a y to that reported for commuting. Because of the reduction in working hours the specific number of business trips do not reduce at all, but stagnate for the years 1998 to 2000 on a level 15 percent above the figure for 1991; the distances travelled per working hour grow stronger than per employee with annual rates at about 3.5 per cent. This confirms the overall picture, that the ongoing progress in telecommunication technologies correlates more with extended business travel, than with business travel saving.
4.3 Model calculations

4.3.1 Home-based telework: best case
As a best case it may be assumed that home-based telework will be oriented towards complete working days at home, and rebound effects need not be considered. Obviously, under such conditions, commuting could be reduced by significant quantities. Using figures elaborated above, a quantitative assessment could be conducted as in table 4-11. The calculation is based on the current situation of labour and of transport. Future changes in the labour force, such as the disappearance and creation of jobs, are not reflected. Likewise potential changes in travel habits are ignored, which will alter the balance of transport and the shares going to the various transport purposes.
Table 4-11: Potentials for transport saving by home-based telework: Best case
30
Group All employed persons Telework-capabble jobs home-based teleworker Telework days at home
Definition
Object commuting
Share of total distance travelled 16,5 per cent 5,3 per cent 4,0 per cent 1,6 per cent
32 per cent of all employees 75 per cent of employees with telework-capable jobs 40 per cent of working days
their commuting their commuting saved commuting
To explain the calculation: Commuting of all persons covers about a sixth of all passenger kilometres travelled, as recent studies for Germany make clear. Regional differences may exist, but should not be very high for the complete EU. Remarkably higher shares reported in other studies typically result from neglecting relevant shares of all passenger kilometres travelled when constructing the 100 per cent basis, in particular from excluding parts or all of air travel. The share of telework-capable jobs was discussed above and estimated at nearly 32 per cent of all jobs. Again, an appropriate data base for the EU, which grouped employees by their professional skills instead of by the type of industry they are working for, was not available. As a consequence, a comprehensive survey of the job characteristics of European employees may result in minor corrections. A systematic and relevant difference between the average commuting distance of the telework-capable workers and all employed persons cannot be seen. The commuting travel of telework-capable employees corresponds to their share of the complete labour force. Therefore about 5.3 per cent of all passenger kilometres travelled are accounted for by their commuting. It was estimated that about three quarters of the employed with telework-capable jobs could potentially telework from their homes on a regular basis, which means at least one complete day per week. This corresponds to roughly one quarter of all employed persons. Whereas in an early phase of home-based telework the commuting distances of teleworkers may be significantly above the average, as reported in several studies, this effect should disappear, as home-based telework becomes more generalised. In this case the distances should be about the same as for other employed persons. As a consequence, the hypothetical commuting distances travelled by home-based teleworkers might equal 4 per cent of all passenger kilometres travelled, if they would not work several days at home but go to their offices. As a further estimation, the share of home-based telework days can be assessed at about 40 per cent of all working days, or two days per week, as an average. This estimation, for instance, corresponds to distributions of teleworking such as 40 per cent of teleworkers with 1 day/week, 50 per cent with 2,5 days/week and 10 per cent with 4 days/week working home-based. Without being too precise, distributions like this seem to mark plausible ranges. As a result, the potential non-commuting because of home-based telework can be assessed to represent about 1,6 per cent of all passenger kilometres travelled. Of course, a calculation of such kind can only give an idea of the magnitude in question. Real results will differ more or less. However, by excluding any rebound effects the picture is to be rated as a rather optimistic view. It may be worth mentioning, that a changed organisation
31
of working times, providing in general 4 instead of 5 working days per week, would result in commuter travel savings of twice as much.
4.3.2 Home-based telework: worst case

The construction of a worst case to show the other extreme is more difficult. The core idea is to quantify the relevant rebound effects, which may take place. In relation to home-based telework, the key factors which may limit its positive contribution are as follows: Employees, who have to commute less frequently, may accept longer commuting distances over time. Some of them will move to more pleasant, but distant locations.19 Despite making fewer trips, the overall result could be an increase in the number of kilometres travelled. This is particularly the case where high speed road or rail links allow commuters to cover longer distances more quickly. As a further consequence, this will contribute to more widespread and sparsely populated settlement patterns. Greater distances between settlements may generate additional social costs and, for the transport sector in particular, reduce the potential for public and non-motorised transport. Further disadvantages may result from changes to daily commuting routines. In several cases, established car-sharing/car-pooling schemes report efficiency losses. But overall, the impact will be minimal given that the current occupancy of passenger cars for commuting purposes according to German figures is just over one person per car. Locally the experience may differ but this cannot be generalised. Rebound effects may result from varied patterns of work management when working at home. This could lead to additional trips which would not be made when working from the office. Furthermore, additional trips may be required to complete tasks previously completed as part of the daily commute. Finally, family members (and others) are able to use the car on days when the teleworker is at home. This may reduce the need for a second or third family car, but could stimulate additional car-use.
In order to give a clear and not too complicated picture, the modelling shall concentrate on the first item named above. Fresh evidence has confirmed the hypothesis of constant travel time budgets. A recent study, conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), found average daily travelling time to be relatively constant at slightly above one hour per person. This finding is based on a large number of individual studies covering a broad range of cultures from across the world, as shown in the following diagram20.
19
ETO points at this in its basic article on benefits of telework: Work opportunities are not confined to jobs within reasonable commuting distance, cf. FAQ: What are the benefits of Telework Telecommuting?, on www.eto.org.uk/faq/faq03.htm
20
A. Schafer, MIT Center for Technology, Policy & Industrial Development, and MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change: Modeling Global Mobility World Passenger Transport Through 2050. Presentation at the Transportation Vision 2050 Futurist Workshop, Doubletree Inn at Southcenter Mall, Seattle 2000, Sheet 6; cf also SCHAFER, A. / VICTOR, D. (2000): The Future Mobility of the World Population. Transportation Research A, 34 (3), pp. 171 205. 32
An earlier study21 analysing the evolution of passenger transport in Germany since 1950 and the status in 1989 shows the same. It claims that transport time is more or less constant; the growing availability of faster means of transportation does not save any transport time, but extends the distances travelled.
Figure 4-1: A survey on average daily travel time (hours) according to several studies
Daily travel time per capita (hours)
5.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 0 5000 10000 GDP/cap, US$(1985)
Source: Schafer and Victor (2000)
I II 2 1 7 5 9 3 6 8 10 4 13 12 11 A 20 19 G 16 31 D B J H 17 K P R 35 22 23 N 33 21 25 29 32 T 30 M 36 24 E F 14 15 28 C I 26 27 34 Q 18 African Villages in: I Tanzania, 1986 II Ghana, 1988 City Surveys: 1 Tianjin (China), 1993 2 Kazanlik (Bulgaria), 1965/66 3 Lima-Callao (Peru), 1965/66 4 Pskov (Former USSR), 1965/66 5 Maribor (Former Yugoslavia),1965/66 6 Kragujevac (F. Yugoslavia),1965/66 7 Torun (Poland), 1965/66 8 Gyoer (Hungary), 1965/66 9 Olomouc (Former CSFR), 1965/66 10 Hoyerswerde (Former GDR),1965/66 11 Sao Paulo (Brazil), 1987 12 Sao Paulo (Brazil), 1977 13 Warsaw (Poland), 1993 14 6 Cities (France), 1965/66 15 Osnabruck (Germany), 1965/66 16 44 Cities (USA), 1965/66 17 Jackson (USA), 1965/66 18 Paris (France), 1976 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Paris (France), 1983 Paris (France), 1991 Sendai (Japan), 1972 Sapporo (Japan), 1972 Kanazawa (Japan), 1974 Kagoshima (Japan), 1974 Kumamoto (Japan), 1973 Hamamatsu (Japan), 1975 Fukui (Japan), 1977 Niigata (Japan), 1978 Hiroshima (Japan), 1978 Osaka (Japan), 1980 Tokyo (Japan), 1980 Osaka (Japan), 1985 Tokyo (Japan), 1985 Cities No. 21-29 in 1987 Tokyo (Japan), 1990 Osaka (Japan), 1990 National Travel Surveys: A Belgium, 1965/66 B Austria, 1983 C Great Britain, 1985/86 D Germany, 1976 E Netherlands, 1979 F Great Britain, 1989/91 G Finland, 1986 H Netherlands, 1987 I France, 1984 J Germany, 1982 K Netherlands, 1989 L USA, 1990 M Germany, 1989 N Switzerland, 1984 O Switzerland, 1989 P Australia, 1986 Q Singapore, 1991 R Norway, 1985 S Norway, 1992 T Japan, 1987
O S L
15000
20000
21
K. O. Schallabck (1996): Verkehr und Zeit (travel and time), in: Jrgen P. Rinderspacher: Zeit fr die Umwelt (time for the environment), Berlin 1996, pp. 175 - 212 33
Therefore, it might be too simplistic to suggest that a reduced frequency in commuting will result in reduced travel times. The lesson from the studies is that the saved travel times will be reinvested in additional transport. Though the additional transport will not necessarily refer to commuting, it may extend to other transport purposes. For the modelling here it shall be assumed that the modified transport equilibrium will provide the same average commuting time as before the start of telework. This means, that the duration of the average commuting trip will grow reciprocally to the reduction of commuting frequencies. Obviously individual reactions will vary, due to the broad range of attitudes and conditions of people. Therefore the approach should not be misunderstood as a deterministic prognosis on individual consequences of telework. The experience is more that the system simply reacts this way, compensating travel time wins by travel distance expenditure. At first glance, one could suggest that commuting distances may remain the same as a result of the compensatory structure. Indeed, an extension of commuting distances has to be expected due to the fact that in general longer trips are correlated with higher average speeds: one trip of an hour mostly covers more distance than three trips of twenty minutes each. The following table 4-12 gives calculations for selected intensities of home-based telework using plausible estimations for the growing speed of longer trips. As a basis, a standard working week is 5 working days, and 10 commuting trips for non-teleworkers.
Table 4-12: Estimated changes in average speed und duration of commuter trips for selected cases of home-based telework
Case
Number of trips per week 10 (8) (8) 8 (6) (6) 6 (2) (2) (2) 2
Duration per trip (minutes) 24 24 6 30 24 16 40 24 24 72 120
Speed (km/h)
Distance per trip (km) 12 12 6 18 12 16 28 12 24 144 180
Distance travelled per week (km) 120 96 48 144 72 96 168 24 48 288 360
Commutin g time per week (minutes) 240 192 48 240 144 96 240 48 48 144 240
Average speed (km/h) 30
no telework (basis) (addition) 20 per cent telework (basis) (addition) 40 per cent telework (basis) (addition 1) (addition 2) 80 per cent telework
30 30 60
36
30 60
42
30 60 120
90
Using such calculations, quantitative estimations can be derived. In the case constructed above, with 24 per cent teleworkers and an average of 2 full days per week teleworking, total distance travelled rises by about 2.5 per cent, if the distribution within the teleworking people comes to 40:40:20 per cent for 1, 2, and 4 days home-based teleworking; a distribution
34
of 40:50:10 per cent for 1, 2.5, and 4 days home-based teleworking results in an additional distance travelled of about 2 per cent of all passenger kilometres. In a more cautious calculation it may be suggested that the gains in speed are less important, namely none for the teleworker with 1 home-based working day per week, and to 78 km/h instead of 90 km/h for the teleworker with 4 home-based working days per week (setting the speed in the addition 2 to 100 instead of 120 km/h). This would lead to an increase of the total distance travelled of 1.9 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively, for the both distributions of home-based working discussed. Anyway, these figures may just illustrate the range in which the results can be expected. In reality, the uncertainties are rather big: the distance distribution of commuting is rather leftsided, with a maximum and a median value at a relatively short distance. The residual probabilities for distances above x show a nearly hyperbolic trend, similar to other transport purposes. Whereas the median and mean distances have been growing rather slowly in the past, the individual changes often have shown significant leaps. Therefore, an accurate modelling needs much more data than is presently available. In particular, the share of those teleworkers, who work at home most of the time and how their commuting distances will develop seems significant. When, the route Hamburg-Berlin was planned for the Transrapid, a very fast train with magnetic levitation, the transport models showed significant quantities of employees, who would live in Hamburg and work in Berlin or vice versa. A daily commuting distance of 500 km (both directions) seemed not to be too much, in this case. It might be as plausible for a teleworker, to remain living in Milan, while going to the office in Manchester for two days in every two weeks.
Similarly, numerous rebound mechanisms may reduce the positive contribution of teleconferencing. The main argument is that the ease of use of teleconferencing will stimulate business contacts on a global scale. Teleconferencing is not only a consequence of globalisation, it is a driving force in the process. Greater virtual contact tends to stimulate demand for (physical) business trips. Again, growing distances may override any reduction in the number of trips made. The growing tendency of business to split into a number of partnerships and the multinational nature of an ever greater number of individual companies may also stimulate travel. Both phenomena are supported by teleconferencing techniques and simultaneously spur the international business travel market.
It is difficult to make any overall assessment of the impact of teleconferencing on transport activity since its take up has not been widespread until recently and the feedback loop between virtual and physical business contact is unpredictable. Until now, however, the general experience shows, that growing functionality of and access to ICT correlates with growing demands for business travel.
35
4.3.4 Mobile telework: Additional benefits from travel time

While telework and teleconferencing reduce travel and time spent travelling, mobile computing allows for better use of remaining travel time.22 Thanks to ICT, travel time need not be time lost. In reality, there are limitations to mobile working. Commuting by car leaves little opportunity for the use of mobile computing at the same time. On public transport, the possibilities are greater but there are still limitations, for example, waiting for a train, changing trains, standing on a local train or even sitting on a bus provide little opportunity for concentrated computer work. Nevertheless cellular phones and other handheld devices can easily be used, and the use of full-scale computing is increasingly possible for long-distance passengers. When and how the strict restrictions on ICT use on many flights will be relaxed on a wide scale remains unclear, but the point is an the agenda. Carriers like Lufthansa will start early in 2003 conducting tests facilitating not only the use of laptop computers, but even access to the world wide web on selected flight routes. Although the advantages provided by mobile telework are very clear, it obviously may contribute to an expansion of both the number of hours worked, and the number of hours travelled. While the normal cellular phone is essential to allow contact to and from the travelling person during any trip, mobile computing is more likely to be used on longer trips. Significant shares of work are conducted during travel in singular cases of senior people with a large geographical scope, but evidence is missing, as yet, on how this will affect the working and travelling times of larger sections of employees. It is possible that the rule of constant travel time budgets may weaken, if travel consists of sitting on a desk and doing office-work using a computer. The standard one-day-business-trip benefits in particular from mobile computing. Such a trip usually consists of a meeting of about two hours, and two trips of about three hours each; the productive time is traditionally the meeting, whereas most of the travelling time is lost. A productive use of most of the travel time would allow for a bigger number of such trips. The resulting addition to distance travelled would be significant, particularly if the number of trips by aircraft were to rise.
22
The term travel time is not always used in a uniform sense. In the field of transportation, travel time normally denominates the time needed to move from one to the other place, including necessary breaks if need be. Other concepts not preferred in the study here cover the full travel from the starting point until the return. As a result, the idea of mobile teleworking focusses more on the use of ICT during the change of place. 36
5. Social aspects and changes

Telework did not take off as predicted a decade ago. It was expected to revolutionise our worklife, and even though more and more people work from home or on the move and mobile technologies allow us to be less tied to one place, the telework revolution has turned out to be a myth. The reason why it didnt take off is that learning and the exchange of knowledge is a social process, and the mistake lies in thinking that just because we can, we will work primarily via technology (Oakley & Campbell, 2002). This part of the report will take a closer look at the social impacts of telework. The focus will be on employees, managers, organisations and local communities, and not so much on the macro level aspects of telework.
Methodology This report draws on numerous reports, surveys and books about telework, social capital and different aspects of worklife. In addition to this the Digital Europe project has also produced new sources of information in the area. This report draws on new data from: GeSI survey. In June 2002 a survey of seven of the companies in the Global eSustainability Initiative (GeSI) network was conducted. The partner companies who responded to the survey are major players in the fields of information and communications technologies. Hence, they have a special interest in pioneering solutions, which highlight the benefits of telework, within their own companies. The survey covered details about the companies telework schemes, attitudes towards telework and reasons for introducing teleworking. In autumn 2002 two follow up interviews were conducted with two of the companies about the social aspects of telework and the companies telework strategies. MORI survey on ebusiness and sustainability. Digital Europe commissioned MORI to do a telephone survey investigating the link within companies between the use of ebusiness, and performance on indicators of corporate social responsibility. Two interviews (one about the companies use of ebusiness and one about CSR) with one hundred large companies in Europe were conducted in July 2002. Interviews with teleworkers. Four in-depth interviews with individual who telework were conducted in autumn 2002. The interviews mainly concentrated on work/life balance and learning corporate culture in relation to telework. Digital Europe expert interviews. In the course of the Digital Europe project 10 interviews with experts were conducted. The interviews cover various aspects of ebusiness and sustainability, and they are available on www.digital-eu.org.
37
5.1 Human Capital in the knowledge economy

When AT&T first piloted telework in 1989, it was in response to the Clean Air Act in the USA. At the beginning of the 21st century, telework is one of a number of incentives in the hands of employers being used to attract and retain the most talented staff. In a service-driven economy, value is created through the quality of service delivered by employees. A production line can be automated; a haircut or piece of financial advice cannot. And the raw material which goes to make up the services we consume is increasingly human ideas and creativity: human capital is a critical economic asset. According to management expert Richard Florida, Access to talented and creative people is to modern business what access to coal and iron ore was to steel-making (Florida, 2002). Finding the best talent and holding on to it is the key to success. But with greater transparency and information available, the best are far more aware of their worth and are equipped with the tools and networks to seek out and exploit greener pastures. They have been described as free agents (Pink, 2001) - high on human capital and low on loyalty (Knell, 2000). Staff retention is a huge challenge but recruitment is a costlier one. HP spend 150,000 USD over 25 months on training a new engineer before it sees any return on the investment (Cohen & Prusak, 2001). On average it costs an employer one third of an employees salary if that employee has to be replaced. Lucrative salary packages alone can never be enough. Companies need to build loyalty through other benefits, such as flexibility and training. A s digital commentator Charles Leadbeater argues, the successful company of the future will be the personalised company, tailoring its offering to the needs of individual customers and employees (Leadbeater, 2001).
5.2 Social capital, sustainable development and telework

Sustainable development the overall focus of the Digital Europe project is a dynamic process that enables all people to realise their potential and improve their quality of life, in ways that simultaneously protect and enhance the Earths life support systems. This definition makes it clear that achieving sustainable development is not simply about manipulating the environment, while people pursue business as usual. It is a social and economic project as much as an environmental project, and one with the very positive objective of optimising human well-being. We can think of sustainable development in terms of maintaining certain types of capital stocks and living off the income social capital is one of these stocks. Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam defines social capital as the social networks and the norms of reciprocity associated with them (Putman, 2002). Not everything of value should be called capital, but there are characteristics of social capital that justify the use of the term capital. Social capital can be analysed, invested in, worked with and made to yield benefits, and as Professor Jane Fountain remarks, social capital, like other forms of capital, accumulates when used productively (Prusak & Cohen, 2001). Just as the global decline in stocks of natural capital threatens our ability to develop sustainably. High levels of positive social capital in society are manifested in positive social outcomes such as lower crime and better levels of health and happiness. Networks of human contacts provide the social capital that creates these outcomes. Telework is changing the relationship between individuals, work and communities, and therefore it has an impact on social capital. We will come back to social capital through out the report.
38
Social capital is a term most frequently applied to societies. It has been identified as a key determinant of national economic success. It is equally relevant to corporate success. More about this in 5.5 Corporate social capital. Building corporate social capital virtually poses a challenge but an increasingly real one in companies where working patterns and location are flexible and varied.
5.3 Work/Life balance

This section is about the relationship between teleworking employees working life and the rest of their lives. It will be looking at work and family23, community involvement and social life, and Interrole conflict and working hours.
5.3.1 Work and family

With more women working full time and more households having two working parents, balancing family and work commitments is a growing challenge for employees and employers alike. A better work/family balance is among the top three reasons for choosing telework given by employees at five of the companies surveyed. (For full details of the survey results conducted with the Global eSustainability Initiative, see Annex 1). According to AT&T, 56 per cent of teleworkers who receive competing job offers factor the ability to work at home into their decision to stay with the company. Told that they could no longer work from home, one in three teleworkers would look for another job within the company or quit (AT&T, 2002). Telework offers employers a means to respond to demands for improved flexibility and retain valuable employees. Studies indicate that telework has a positive effect on family life. For example nearly 60 per cent of respondents of the European Families project report that they feel better after work and generally feel a positive effect of teleworking on their family life. The flip side is that nearly 20 per cent report that things are worse after taking up telework (Families, 2002). (The study shows that most of those 20 per cent are teleworkers that work shifts.) Working from home at least part of the week enables parents to fit work around family commitments, such as taking children to school or being at home when children return from school. This does not necessarily mean that teleworkers spend more time with their families, rather they enjoy greater flexibility to choose when to spend time with their families. For example, while 9 per cent of teleworkers in the US report spending more time with their families since taking up telework, 11 per cent spend less. The remaining 80 per cent of teleworkers spend the same amount of time with their families as they did before, while still experiencing an improved quality of life (Pew, 2002). Furthermore, the ability to telework means that work location need not bear so heavily on decisions concerning the location of the family, allowing teleworkers greater flexibility in their living arrangements. Whilst flexibility of location may improve individual quality of life, it has environmental consequences with teleworkers frequently living further away from the office than the average employee (see chapter 4 for further discussion of environmental impact).
23
For more further in-depth research about telework in relation to specific family types or types of work we refer to the Families project (The project is a study of interactions between family trends and new work methodes in the European Information Society). A report with the final results from the can be downloaded from www.families-project.com. 39
5.3.2 Community involvement and social life

Spending more time at home seems to allow teleworkers to be more active not only in family life but also in their wider social networks and local community. A study of Norwegian teleworkers conducted by Telenor found that several were able to entertain friends at lunch or on weekday evenings due to the flexibility of being at home (Evjemo et al, 2001). A teleworking consultant comments that working from home allows him to plan his evenings better: When I am working at home I am more inclined to do something social. I can finish work at a reasonable and predictable time instead of being stuck in traffic. If I have been in the car for an hour and a half, Im more likely to want to stay in.24 A recent study in the US found that teleworkers were more likely to use the internet to get involved with groups in their community than non-teleworkers (Horrigan & Rainie, 2002). The SusTel survey for the UK reports that 14 per cent of teleworkers found it easier to get involved with community activities (the majority of these are school-related), and 6 per cent spend more time on these activities after taking up telework (SusTel, 2002). This increased involvement in the local community can substitute for limited workplace interaction (ECaTT, 2000). However as the data shows the implications for community involvement do not seem to be that significant. The private struggles seems to be more apparent than the lack of community involvement, and it is the personal and family level that benefits most significantly from more hours at home. This is hardly surprising changes in the organisation of community happen over time. The role and structure of communities have changed throughout history and gone through different phases closely connected to trends in working life, family structures, residential patterns and public institutions (urbanisation, suburbanisation, the welfare state, extended families, single or double income families and single or double parent families). These structural changes have been incremental. If we are at the beginning of a rebirth of local community brought about be new working patterns, the full extent of change will only emerge over time.
5.3.3 Interrole conflict and working hours

On average, teleworkers tend to work longer hours than their colleagues in the office. Individuals who combine home working with mobile working put in an average of 11.2 extra hours per week and individuals who work one day a week at home put in 10.9 hours overtime a week (ECaTT, 2000). A SusTel survey of BTs teleworkers backs these findings, concluding that only 2 per cent of the teleworkers had reduced their working hours while 68.5 per cent worked longer hours25 and 29.5 per cent the same number of hours as before starting telework (SusTel, 2002). The SusTel survey also shows that BT teleworkers report significant improvements in their quality of life, despite working longer hours. This seems paradoxical, as long working hours are usually associated with stress, domestic tension and other factors that reduce quality of life. Some explanations for this are: saving time and eliminating the stress of commuting; the possibility of fitting domestic tasks into lunch breaks; greater control over time, guilt factor (a need to prove that home working is not skiving) and finally being more productive at work. (SusTel, 2002). According to Peter Hopkinson from Bradford University, the last factor seems particularly relevant, since people who chose to
24 25
Telephone interview about telework conducted by Forum for the Future, 2002
The report sugest that one of the reasons for this very high number is that the majority of the respondents have teleworked for several years and that the general work presure and working hours in BT has gone up for all employees teleworkers and nonteleworkers - over the last years. 40
telework are in general highly motivated by being productive. Joseph Roitz from AT&T agrees with this: It is a chicken-and-egg question of whether virtual officing causes higher performance or whether higher performers are more likely to want (and get permission) to work from home full time. But there is definitely a correlation between the two26
Change in weekly working hours in EU
Regular teleworkers Supplementary teleworkers Non-teleworkers 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Decreased 0 hours 1-5 hours 6-10 hours 11-20 hours 20+ hours
Note: Supplementary teleworkers (also called occasional teleworkers) are by EcaTT defined as people that work at home less that one full day on a weekly basis. Source: EcaTT, 2001
Figure 4-1: Change in weekly working hours in EU
Some workers use their home office to finish off tasks they have not completed in the office in order to make a heavy workload the spice of life not the kiss of death. For others working from home can blur the boundaries between work and private life, and create feelings of guilt when they are not working. Mills describes this anxiety as the interrole conflict that can be experienced by an individual when the role pressures from employment and family domains are incompatible or conflicting (Mills et al, 2000). Interrole conflict appears to be more pronounced for individuals with families where the infiltration of work into family time can be resented by family members. A study conducted by Eurescom found that telework can have a negative impact on partners if the teleworker overworks or is always on call (Eurescom, 2001). Employees at Partner D identify separating work and private life as a barrier to telework. It seems that problems with interrole conflicts are particularly acute in the early days of teleworking. The majority of people find their own rhythm and balance between work and private life after teleworking for some months. That can be a nine to five day consisting of work only, a working day broken up to make time for childcare or five working days squashed into four or some other arrangement (Forum for the Future Interviews, 2002; Families case studies, 2001). The existence of a dedicated workspace in the home seems to be key to avoiding potential role conflict. In order to be successful, it is necessary to have an organised workspace with clear boundaries between work and household spaces (Gurstein, 1996). But a 1999 internet survey in the UK found that between a quarter and a third of home-based teleworkers reported not having a dedicated room for telework, but having to create space within a room used for other purposes (Green at al, 2000).
26
Telephone interview about telework conducted by Forum for the Future, 2002 41
5.4 Working from home

Greater autonomy over when and where people work seems to enhance job satisfaction and allow individuals to better balance the competing demands of home and working life. This brings benefits to employers in the form of increased productivity, improved staff retention, and even lower costs through reduced office space. But for individuals permanently away from the office, the pendulum swings the other way. Permanent home or mobile workers can become isolated, overworked and stressed. Research indicates that working one to three days away from the office and the remaining time in the office maximises benefits to employees and employers. Exceeding this threshold stretches the desirable limits of telework. Figure 5.2 provides an overview of teleworks impact on various factors of worklife. The data generally paints a mixed picture there are few clear messages. The findings do make one message clear. More than three-quarter of teleworkers report that their job-satisfaction has increased since beginning telework. Another message is that telework in most cases doesnt change career prospects.
Changes in work-related factors after taking up telework

Social aspects of work/job/business Work stress
6.5 35.8 37.9
Decreased / not a lot / worse No change / a little Increased / a lot / better
26.3
28.4 30.5
41.1
Job satisfaction
20.4
75.3 38.9 38.9
Nature of the work

16.6
22.1
Career prospects 0 10
32.3
51
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Source: Families project: Results of family survey Deliverable No. 3, 2002
Figure 5-2: Changes in work-related factors after taking up telework
5.4.1 Isolation and social capital

Even though teleworkers rarely spend all their time at home, working away from the office can be a lonely business. Individuals working permanently from home report feelings of social isolation, which can cause stress. 38 per cent of teleworkers at Partner B say that lack of interaction with others is a barrier to telework. Among non-teleworkers, 48 per cent fear telework would cause social isolation. An ex-teleworker describes his experiences of isolation and support from colleagues: Working from home is not good for support. When you are feeling down or have a problem coming in to the office will probably help that. When you
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work at home you dont have the support of your colleagues. It is not very easy to get out of feeling down when you are isolated at home.27 At BT and AT&T where telework has been practised for more than ten years isolation does not seem to be a significant problem. According to Ian Wood from BT it is important to have a culture where it is acceptable or even expected to call colleagues for no other reason than a supportive chat. Telework has been so widely used for years in BT, that everyone knows what it is like to be working home alone and needing support from a colleague. As the significance of extended family and local community as sources of individual identity and social belonging has waned, so the importance of the work place for social interaction has grown. The workplace has actually been elevated to one of the few remaining predictable sources of personal contact, collegiality, and community in an increasingly isolated society, a place where people make friends, frequently find mates, and almost always share gossip and news. (Nie, 1999) Furthermore the workplace offers an exposure to a social diversity that people dont experience in other forums such as in sports clubs, places of worship, between neighbours, voluntary organisation, etc. Because of this workplaces represent the ripest venue for bridging social capital, in which people connect across social divides (Better Together, 2000). Employees miss out on this when working permanently away from the office. For these reasons, a combination of working at home or on the move and in the office is often seen at the best solution.
5.4.2 Performance
Working from home allows teleworkers to benefit from a quieter working environment and greater concentration. This is reflected in improved performance, and longer working hours (See also section 5.3.3 about long working hours). Teleworkers at American Express handled 26 per cent more calls and produced 43 per cent more business than their office-based counterparts (Canadian Telework Association, 2000). A survey of employees in the Mobility Initiative at IBM found that 87 per cent believed themselves to be more productive. Improved productivity is the second most important reason (71 per cent) for choosing telework among teleworkers at AT&T, and teleworkers reportedly gain an extra hour of productive time each day spent at home. AT&T estimates this to be worth $65 million. Similarly, teleworkers at BT, Cable and Wireless and Sonera Corporation report a positive impact on productivity. In a report for the US Department of Labor, Doherty, Andrey and Johnson suggest that selfassessment by teleworkers may lead to inflated estimates. For example, a US West Survey which asked people to rate the productivity of their organisations teleworkers was more measured, with 56 per cent saying they were as productive, 6 per cent less productive and 31 per cent more productive. Telework seems to improve the performance of many but this is not universal. (If the performance goes up for teleworkers in an organisation, this will also effect non-teleworkers, as it will have an impact on the general performance level of the organisation.) Paradoxically, even though it has been shown that telework on average has a positive influence on employees performance, fear of less productive workers is still one of the biggest barriers for managers. After fear over data security, fear of decreases in productivity and quality of work when employees work from home are the two most common reasons given for not introducing telework (ECaTT, 2000). Middle management resistance to telework is common, even in larger companies with established telework schemes. 20 per cent of
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employees at Partner F telework but 15 per cent of teleworkers report managerial resistance as a barrier to telework. The Out of sight - out of mind-thinking seems to be very difficult to shake off. A shift in mentality is needed, where the focus is on outcomes and not hours in the office. Heather McInroy from BAA talked about this at a workshop about telework28: I still get embarrassed if I take a work phone call while shopping in Waitrose, and I maybe try to hide where I am. But why should I. I should be embarrassed if I dont reach my targets. Im still learning this. This leaves an apparent need to educate, influence and support managers as well as telewokers.
5.4.3 Learning
Communication technology has come a long way, but not having face to face contact does still make learning and knowledge sharing difficult. A consultant interviewed for the Forum for the Future survey explains that he is sure that teleworking has an effect on his on the job training. You learn less when you telework. When I used to work in an office environment I could go and talk to an expert when ever I wanted, or I would bump into an expert in the corridor, have a talk and learn something from that. And also learn from other people in the office on a day to day basis. E.g if you were in a meeting every day you would learn about chairing meetings. There is definitely an effect of having different people in one room at the same time. It means that you are exposed to different views etc.29 Learning less on the job particularly effects graduates. The learning curves for graduates are steeper than people further into their carrier, and that learning must be supported and inspired by being in an office environment - listening to colleagues phone conversations, watching people chairing meetings, talking to people etc. This is also the case with new employees. Building social capital and getting to know an organisation is easier through face to face contact, than via ICT. This is why most organisations dont offer telework solutions for new employees straight away - unless forced by the need to attract a scarce talent or skill. Elearning products are improving, more and more organisations are using elearning in one form or another. One of the advantages of elearning is that it can be done wherever and whenever - for example at home. What you learn from being in an office environment and what you can learn via elearning on an individual basis are different things and it is crucial to make this distinction. While elearning can be excellent for acquiring what can be called hard skills (tangible skills like IT skills, budgeting and technical skills) elearning would often lack the ability to facilitate learning of soft skills (intangible skills like emotional intelligence, and communication, social and networking skills). Soft skills are better facilitated through social interaction. Even though virtual communication is a form of social interaction, soft skills are often problematic to acquire for permanent homeworkers without a lot of face to face contact. While the border between soft and hard skills is not always clear, it is still a useful distinction to work with when working with learning strategies. The next section, Corporate social capital, is about corporate social capital soft skills.
28 29
SusTel workshop, London, 2002 Telephone interview about telework conducted by Forum for the Future, 2002 44
5.5 Corporate social capital

There is growing awareness that informal social interaction is not only important for individual well being, but also key to corporate success. Many of the most successful ideas are not the outcomes of scheduled meetings, but brainwaves over a coffee or an after-work drink. Much of the knowledge held within a company cannot be written down and transferred as zeros and ones. It is tacit knowledge in the heads of company employees, passed on through daily contact. Equally, informal interaction builds the trust that ensures teams function effectively and tasks are successfully completed. This is corporate social capital the glue that holds the company together and the grease that keeps it moving. Telework poses a challenge to corporate social capital, as it can be difficult to maintain with less face to face contact. An interviewee in the Forum for the Future survey talked about a new web-conference system that his company had recently introduced. Generally he w a s pleased with it because it allowed him to have meetings with people in offices in different parts of the country more often. But it isnt quite the same as face to face meetings: In a face to face meeting there is the informal contact you have when you go into the room, and the chat you have with everyone afterwards. You have the chance to pick up more information, and maybe even get involved in opportunities as a result of that. When you have a webconference you are purely focused on the product update or what ever it might be, it wouldnt be the time or place for discussing any other issues.30 According to qualitative research on Norwegian teleworkers conducted by Telenor, working at home one or two days a week does not seem to weaken social relationships between teleworkers and colleagues. In fact, telework can increase employee loyalty, as it is perceived as a sign of trust on the part of colleagues and managers. But informal communication is much reduced, in part because of some uncertainty on the part of nonteleworking colleagues as to the level of acceptable communication with a teleworking colleague. A non-teleworker interviewed for the Telenor report commented: If he is in his office, you just check if he is free...then you can just drop in and have a short break. If you are going to call somebody you know is in his home-office, then you have to have a specific matter to discuss (Evjerno et al, 2002). By going to the office one or two days a week, teleworkers are able to actively maintain social interactions. This is particularly relevant in overcoming management resistance to telework. Corporate social culture and corporate culture are complex organic systems. In In Good Company Cohen & Prusak write about how the nature of companies changes over time: Coworkers define and redefine who they are as a group in part by sharing and monitoring reactions to events at work, news of the outside world, weather, the behavior of bosses and subordinates, and the thousands of other subjects that form the currency of daily communication. They solidify and redefine group membership, strengthening connections in hundreds of small ways and making new connections, often by chance. (Cohen & Prusak, 2001) As much as telework challenges corporate social capital, it is also a precondition for telework. Coherent organisations with a clear sense of organisational identity, strong social capital and
30
a deep reservoir of trust are more likely to be successful in teleworking than fragmented organisations (Cohen & Prusak, 2001). To build and maintain social capital Cohen & Prusak recommend ...conversation, storytelling, working side by side to build trust and mutual understanding, and meeting in social spaces over time as principal social capital investments (Cohen & Prusak, 2001). Regular face to face contact is key in these issues, and management must be aware of that.
5.6 Recommendations for telework

Our workplaces have become important sources of social capital - a centre of meaning, membership, and mutual support. (Better Together, 2000). At the same time pressure, stress and long hours are taking time and energy away from our social and family lives. In other words The workplace plays a dual social capital role nurturing it in some ways, draining it in others. (Better Together, 2000) Telework and flexiwork can be used to try to make the draining part of work less draining and enhance the nurturing side. But telework is by no means a magic wand that can be waved over overworked knowledge workers to make them work harder or call centre employees to save office space. As this report has outlined there are some opportunities arising from telework, but also some threats. This section draws conclusions that reflect these opportunities and risks and puts forward recommendations that seek to capitalise on the opportunities and minimise the risks. The recommendations are based on the research and findings of this report, and are targeted at two levels: recommendations for individuals, and recommendations at an organisational level. (These two levels do not apply to freelancers and other self employed teleworkers, however these types of workers will still be able to benefit from the majority of the recommendations.) In each case, recommendations for individual teleworkers are presented first followed by recommendations for companies.
1. Treat Telework as an Individual Experience

Find your own pace. The ability to find a rhythm that suits you and stick to it seems to be key to a happy work life away from the office. When you work in an office there is often by default a set of routines to follow. When working away from the office you have to create these routines yourself. People have different needs and different ways of working, and teleworking allows you to be creative in organising your workday to accommodate these needs. However it seems that most people working from home prefer to be very structured about when they start and finish work to prevent work invading their private life. Another major factor for successful teleworking is setting small goals that are achievable, and generally paying close attention to time management. Some people try to fit regular exercise or house work into their day when working from home. Other people mark the end of a working day by calling their line manager to report on the day as a way of facilitating self-discipline. Splitting the day up and working more in the evening seems to be working for many home workers with caring responsibilities. Expect it to take a while to find your own routine.
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Companies must focus on the individual employee. As this report shows telework is an individual experience, and it is important that the organisation is aware of that. Managers must stop managing offices and start managing people. The employer should also be aware of the fact that employees situations are likely to change as people are going though different life and career stages. People move, get divorced, are promoted, get married, have children and take on other caring responsibilities etc., and their motivations and abilities to work change accordingly. Appraisal sessions with the teleworkers line manager can be used to monitor these changes. These changes and individual needs draw attention to the importance of being able to reverse telework arrangements. Telework shouldnt be a life sentence. Teleworking agreements are mostly agreements between individuals. An organisation can create a policy structure and a receptive environment, but in most cases if the direct manager doesnt like telework then employees arent teleworking. In reality it is generally individual employees and managers who make the decision to implement a telework arrangement.
2. Prioritise Communication and Co-ordination

Be aware of the limits to, and advantages of, virtual communication. When working away from the office communication skills become essential as you rely more on virtual communication. You and your colleagues communications skills are the safeguards against isolation and are vital for knowledge sharing and collaboration. Virtual communication is not as rich as face to face communication, and that makes it a challenge. E.g. on the phone you are not aware of body language, and on email you lack the tone and intonation of the voice. This means that you can easily miss subtleties, and this increases the risk of misunderstandings. It is important to know when different communications media are appropriate, and the use of a mix of communications techniques (email, intranet, web/teleconferencing and face to face communication) is key to successful communication. One rule of thumb is that generally email is good for factual matters, summarising meetings and co-ordination, while face to face communication works better for more creative brainstorming and conceptual or sensitive discussions. Another characteristic of email and instant messaging is that because of its asynchronous nature it allows communication to take place that wouldnt otherwise happen. It is not tied to time and place, and therefore it can foster a different kind of creativity to face-to-face contact, e.g. it allows one to send out an email at 3:00 a.m. when the idea strikes. Virtual communication is not only characterised by being less rich, it is also likely to mean less, and more focused communication. This is often seen as a big advantage of telework, as it allows teleworkers to work undisturbed and be more productive. However the flip side of not having ad hoc conversations in the office is missing out on opportunities to pick up information - learning from others and following what is happening in the organisation. The limits to, and advantages of, virtual communication are also important in relation to telework and learning. Some skills are more easily acquired away from the office than others. Generally hard (tangible) skills are easier to acquire than soft (intangible) skills when teleworking (see also section 5.4.3. about learning). Another feature of informal office chat is the emotional support it often provides. It may take some practice to pick up the phone and talk to a colleague with the sole purpose of snapping yourself out of the bad day you are having.
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Create opportunities for face to fact contact. An organisation with teleworking employees also has a responsibility (and it is also in the companys interests) to make its teleworkers feel a part of the organisation and not give them the impression that they are disconnected satellites. One way of doing this is by facilitating opportunities for colleagues to meet, for example by synchronising the days people are in and out of the office. The majority of teleworkers have days in the office, and having a core day when everybody is in on the same day without scheduled external meetings will optimise the opportunity for fact to face contact.
3. Make sure roles are clearly defined

Know your role in the organisation. Working away from the office requires a basic understanding of office life, of the organisation, the team, your own tasks and role within the organisation. Therefore it is rarely a good idea for young people just starting their carrier to work on their own at home. They need to learn what it means to be in an office environment, and be supported and inspired in their learning. This is also, to a certain degree, the case with new employees. It is not easy to establish a relationship with colleagues, get to know an organisation and become familiar with a new role without being physically present. This is an important point because as more and more educational programs become virtual, employees just out of college will be more prepared to work on their own at home. Telework is more suitable for discrete or very defined projects, and it is important to be clear about your role in the project and what you need from others. If you use telework as a dumping ground for things you need to catch up on and unclear tasks, you might not enjoy the benefits of a more flexible way of working. Teleworking is not a magic wand that can solve problems with overworking, unclear roles etc. It seems that people learn somewhat less when they work at home than when they work in the office, due to less interaction with other people and the exposure to less random knowledge. (This is less apparent and important for senior employees). This can be seen as a trade off for being more efficient working at home. Again it is important to be aware of what kind of competencies you can learn while teleworking and what you cant. The organisational structure must support telework. The tendency to reward hours spent in the office rather than outcomes has led to a long hours culture in much of Europe. But, successful telework needs a new style of management where employees are judged on performance and are trusted to complete tasks out of sight of their line manager. Management support for telework is crucial to bringing down barriers to telework and creating a supportive culture. A new style of management in turn depends on wider organisational change where units are given significant responsibility and work in a network configuration rather than being tightly controlled within a top-down, hierarchical organisation (which is also the case with non-telworking organisations).
4. Consider Equipment and Surroundings
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Make sure you have the right equipment at home. The rapid development of information and communication technologies makes it easier and easier for people to telework. Broadband is reducing problems with file transfers, laptops are becoming more affordable, mobile technologies are making us less dependent on one place and better collaborative software is becoming available. Despite all these technological improvements the fact is that ICT problems still cause stress and take up a lot of employees time. There is a risk that this problem will be greater for people working away from the office, partly because they rely even more on ICT than office based workers, and partly because the access to IT support might be poorer. Teleworkers must be prepared for this. The optimal home office solution is working in a separate room (that is unfortunately in some EU countries an unrealistic target for the majority of teleworking workforce, due to the high cost of property). Having a dedicated office space at home helps balance work and private life, as it is easier to stop working when you can physically leave the room and close the door. Do not neglect ICT support and health and safety regulations in home offices. Organisations are obliged to live up to health and safety regulations, but at the moment the coverage of employees work from a home office is a grey area. Which means it can easily be forgotten. Neglecting health and safety can lead to absence, unhappy employees and even legal disputes. The employer must make sure that employees are aware of the regulations, and that there is support from the organisation to help them comply with them. It is also the organisations responsibility to offer ICT systems that support teleworking, such as an Intranet, server access and firewalls. In the light of the fact that ICT problems are more infuriating when you are on your own, out of reach of the ICT department, it is valuable to have a dedicated IT support hotline for teleworkers. However, this is only realistic in large corporations with many teleworkers. Another solution is for large firms is to integrate telework into existing help desk systems as part of an overall centralisation strategy. In this way all employees can call one phone number for IT support, regardless of their location.
5. Dont Underestimate the Role of Trust and Values

A sense of belonging can make it easier to work away from the office. A shared sense of identity can create a feeling of connection to the organisation and overcome some limitations of virtual communication and remoteness. Changing the organisational culture and values to support telework is a long journey. If an organisation chooses to be largely telework based, such a choice is likely to require a change in mentality at all levels of the organisation. A High level of trust within an organisation is key to creating an environment that supports telework and overcoming disconnection and isolation. But building trust is a longer process than putting the right technology in place or changing the formal structures of the organisation. It develops overtime from a shared identity, shared myths and regular interaction. Companies need to invest on all these fronts over the long term. Company values can play an important role as the basis for trust building, particularly where company values leverage the personal values of individual employees.
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5.7 Telework and work in the digital economy

Telework is not an isolated phenomenon. It is part of the wider shift taking place in the economy from industrial production to service-based, knowledge-intensive industries. The organisational forms of the twentieth century were designed for economies based on material goods. They were characterised by large uniform, standardised organisations with clear Christmas tree lines of management and accountability. Hierarchical command structures controlled specialised employees who would perform precisely defined tasks in a repetitive and predictable manner. This was true in government or schools as much as it was in industry. Now the story is different. As demand for products and services has become unpredictable and markets diversified to become global, the system of mass-production has become too rigid and costly to sustain. Hence large companies have adopted new business models, often subcontracting to small and medium sized businesses whose flexibility allows productivity gains for the large corporations as well as for the economy as a whole. This new organisational form could be called a network organisation, relying on a large number of connections between smaller businesses, where the connections can easily be broken and re-made in a short amount of time according to demand. Visa, the credit card company, is an oft-quoted example of this type of restructuring. Its not really a company at all, but a co-ordinating body owned by 21,000 financial institutions to oversee transactions. In 2002, over $2 trillion in goods and services will be purchased using Visa, constituting the largest consumer purchasing bloc in the world, but Visa has no assets other than its relationships (Leadbeater, 1999; visa.com). Its success is based on its network structure. Companies have also restructured internally. Manuel Castells characterises this shift as being from vertical bureaucracies to the horizontal corporation and points to seven major trends: (1) organisation around process, not task; (2) a flat hierarchy; (3) team management; (4) measuring performance by customer satisfaction; (5) rewards based on team performance; (6) maximisation of contacts with suppliers and customers; and (7) information, training and retraining of employees at all levels (Castells, 1996). The challenges faced by teleworkers, their colleagues and managers are broader challenges associated with work in the digital economy. The blurring of work and home of which teleworkers complain is increasingly a challenge for knowledge workers in general. Mobile technologies mean that we are always within reach, not only bringing work into the home but also into commuting time. No time is dead time anymore. The eight-hour day and five day week is disappearing with the global, timeless, competitive world and a move to the 24/7 culture, as the Management researchers Crisp, Foley and Lievonen put it in a recent report about location awareness in working life (Crisp et al, 2002). The challenge of building social capital in the absence of personal contact is a reality across large corporations made up of networks of smaller units which are geographically scattered. Individuals from across the globe must develop enough shared understanding and trust to ensure effective virtual collaboration. As corporate hierarchies flatten and networks become global, the challenges that accompany managing teleworkers are increasingly common. Digital technologies are driving significant change within the workplace and disrupting traditional patterns of communication and team building. Some embrace and exploit this newly found freedom. Richard Florida argues that a new creative class is emerging in the US whose function is to create new ideas, new technologies and new creative content. What sets the creative class apart are its norms: individuality, self-expression and openness to
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difference over homogeneity, conformity and fitting in (Florida, 2002) the creative class is well placed to embrace the opportunities of the changing work place. But for many, change causes stress, insecurity, and even fear. For example a Digital Europe survey concludes that almost half of the respondents consider the effects of email to be largely negative. Some said that email was detrimental to relationships and that the personal touch had been lost31. If change is not to undermine corporate social capital and individual quality of life, we need social innovation new ways of communicating, a new management style, a focus on outcomes rather than hours spent in the office. ICT is both the problem and part of the solution. Intranets and portals are new tools for maintaining corporate culture. Email, instant messaging and online collaboration provide new means of communication. But ICT alone is not enough. A global network needs values to bind it together. Corporate culture and identity have always been important. Companies do not spend millions on branding only for the sake of the market. But in the absence of regular contact, common values are critical to social capital. As the worlds largest mobile operating company, Vodafone has built a global network of operating companies around four core passions for customers, for its people, for results and for the world around us. But values can only be the corporate glue if they reflect reality. It is no longer enough to talk the talk. Companies are expected to put their values into practice in the form of environmental, social and ethical responsibility. In the networked economy, corporate responsibility is a prerequisite to attracting and retaining the best employees. Telework is still in its infancy, particularly in Europe compared with the US. Teleworkers are still in the minority and many organisations are stuck in the industrial age model of an officebased workforce. As more people become familiar with telework, although not necessarily teleworkers themselves, social innovation will take place. Norms of communication will develop, managerial resistance will decrease, organisations will adapt to better accommodate remote workers and the tools available to teleworkers will improve. This will mitigate some of the negative effects of telework and prevent corporate social capital from being eroded. Only a company that can match investment in technology with the necessary organisational change will make the most of its initial investment (Caincross, 2002). Many larger companies have invested in intranet/telework portals, data security, hardware and connections for employees, but few have made the necessary organisational changes.
31
Telephone interview about ebusiness and SD conducted by Forum for the Future, 2002 51
6. Evaluation and deductions

Data quality
Fortunately data on actual experiences with telework and teleconferencing are becoming available in growing numbers. Nevertheless the possibility of comparing the data is still poor as very different definitions are used. Our findings suffer from the shortcomings.32
Extent of telework and teleconferencing

As the ECaTT-survey shows, roughly 5 per cent of the labour force in Europe can be classified as teleworkers. The data given by the GeSI partners confirms this portion, including mobile teleworkers. Additional selected examples show a broader range in the individual shares. The quantitative potentials of home-based telework can be estimated to cover 40 per cent of the working days of about a quarter of all employees, representing roughly 10 per cent of the working days of the complete labour force. Determining the extent of teleconferencing is more difficult as accurate data is not available. However, rough estimations can be made for telephone conferences (without visual support) and the technically more sophisticated videoconferencing. Telephone conferences appear as a standard (at least between two people) and they are generally accessible for those who want to. Multipoint videoconferences are comparatively rare, more technically sophisticated and at present only available on request. Assuming continued technical progress in the development of ICT, the growth potentials are very high, as the numbers of business contacts desired will probably also rise.
The impact of telework and teleconferencing on transport experience up to now

Individual case studies and panel surveys which are mostly based on small quantities of teleworkers show that teleworkers typically work about 1.5 full days per week at home as an average. As a result they save about 2,500 kilometres distance travelled for commuting annually. This is based on single commuting distances, which are estimated to be rather high and far above the average for all employees. The published quantitative data bases as well
32
A crucial point for the evaluation of telework itself as well as for the evaluation of transport consequences is made by lacking precision in marking off traditional home and mobile work from new forms enabled by ICT. Clear concepts dealing with necessary and with sufficient conditions are missing widely. The evaluation of teleconferencing suffers from similar problems. In particular in respect to transport issues it may be understandable, that specific data are mostly missing, as the transport statistics in general show several weaknesses. However, the differences between the data available and those required for substantial calculation schemes are obvious. 52
as the composition of the respective surveyed groups of teleworkers do not allow sound statistical extrapolation, though some of the studies derive estimations on the overall passenger transport effect, coming to savings of about 1 per cent of all commuting distances travelled in 1999. Looking from a macro perspective at passenger transport does not reveal a significant influence from home-based telework on the number of commuting trips nor the commuting distances travelled. Nevertheless, marginal effects in any direction may be simply be invisible. For teleconferencing, published results suggest that teleconferences mostly substitute business trips that would otherwise be carried out physically. Only a small portion, maybe every forth or fifth teleconference is reported to trigger additional business trips. The basis for these findings is rather small and casuistic, which raises difficulties for general deductions. Relevant problems on evaluation result from missing investigation and analysis, to what extent ICT contributes to the ongoing process of enlarging the geographical scope of business activities, commonly labelled globalisation. From the macro view on passenger transport, business trips (and in particular the respective distances travelled) prove to be increasing in number significantly. This does not support the hypothesis of transport saving due to teleconferencing, but emphasises the impression that business trips and the use of enhanced ICT in business grow together. Due to the composition of business trips from rather different subgroups including delivery or service trips, an interpretation is not easy. Nevertheless, it may be a strong point, that business air travel shows the highest growth rates, though at the same time this may be a focus for substitution by teleconferencing, because of time and cost aspects.
Future perspectives of telework and teleconferencing

The future perspectives are somewhat unclear and will depend on the changing conditions on both sides, the ICT as well as the transport. As general access to ICT, familiarity with ICT and the functions of ICT are generally assumed to be growing while specific costs are falling, it can be assumed that the spread of telework and teleconferencing will grow. In the transport sector the access to transport means and the level of service (in particular the available speeds) in general are growing as well while at the same time the specific costs are falling (cost per passenger kilometre in relation to the average monthly budget). Therefore, under the present trends, commuting and business travel may also expand if teleconferencing does not replace some of it. Referring to home-based telework, the bandwidth of likely developments was modelled with two scenarios. In a best-case scenario the transport saving was calculated without including any rebound effects. Contrary to that, a worst-case scenario was based on the constant travel-time hypothesis: less frequent trips would result in a longer duration of the individual trips. Given the present composition of professions in the total labour force, the models resulted in a potential transport saving of up to 1.6 per cent of all passenger kilometres travelled in the best case, and a potential transport expansion of up to 2.5 per cent in worst case. Neither scenario is very likely, and from a day-per-day perspective the changes may hardly be felt, because the underlying processes of developing telework structures and the adaptation to these structures will take a couple of years. However, the difference between both extremes is high enough not to be neglected.
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For the future of teleconferencing and the results for the transport systems, a quantitative modelling did not seem fairly substantiated. The general impression may read that business travel will grow with or without growing use of ICT, and maybe even more with growing ICT use. From an environmental perspective special interest should be given to the growing business air travel, which might turn out to be one of the crucial elements to meet or to miss greenhouse targets. This truly will depend more on the conditions for participating in air travel than in teleconferencing. Beyond the possibilities of physical travel to meetings and of teleconferences for virtual meetings, the future may provide us with the option to combine both of them: joining teleconferences while travelling to a real meeting onboard an Internetenabled aircraft.
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7. Recommendations
Recommendations are made for the policy arena, business and academia. The recommendations deal with providing a sound information basis, ensuring the potential advantages of telework and teleconferencing, and excluding or mitigating negative rebound effects.
Policy Awareness of the necessities for a balanced view of the consequences of telework and teleconferencing instead of more euphoric approaches. Unlike ten years ago, comprehension should have grown that ICT deserves a fair judgement. Hence the vast new options, in particular of telework and teleconferencing, have to be counterbalanced with their consequences, which are not always positive. Internalisation of external costs of transport, in particular with consideration of the greenhouse burden, the cost of speed and the cost of sprawl. Enforcement of modern ICT and subsidising transport, particularly high-speed and long-distance, easily will jeopardise the potential benefits of ICT: ICT may stimulate more transport than it saves. Cost expansion of transport will support the substitution process by telework and teleconferencing, while mitigating compensatory travel. Reviewed speed limits. Contrary to a think slow, act fast motto, ICT strengthens the options for well-considered, moderate action. As a consequence, this gives space to reduce the speeds in physical transport, which is a steering parameter for the negative side effects of transport. Further on, speed reductions in physical transport will also stimulate the substitution process by telework and teleconferencing, while mitigating compensatory travel. Enhanced transport statistics for the European Union, covering all means of transportation (including the non-motorised modes), and all sections of travel (including air travel sections outside the national European territories). At present a lot of data is available only on a national basis, and for selected countries. The understanding of transport on a European level therefore is limited. As far as national and European transport policies are bound to the distorted basis, correction is even more urgent. In particular walks and bicycle rides as well as air travel sections outside the respective national territory are often neglected, though the former represent remarkable shares of all trips, and the latter represent remarkable shares of the distances travelled. In particular the rebound effects of telework and teleconferencing due to generating additional air travel have to be reported on a sound basis to avoid misinterpreting their environmentally significance.
Business Integrated travel plans including telework. The integrated travel plan, a specifically British planning tool, aims at a combined realisation of the respective appropriate measures to optimise particularly the commuting travel to a business location. Including telework into such plans will absorb negative effects to other instruments like joint commuting etc.
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Integrated telework plans. If telework is introduced not only on a singular or sporadic basis, it seems appropriate to follow worked out procedures. Some standard training of teleworkers, exercising their special skills, responsibilities etc. may be a matter of course. Additionally plans and standards for the organisation of labour, including the workflow and the spatial and temporal distribution of labour are essential. From a transport perspective the prevalence of work in one place during each day is crucial when having transport saving in mind. Also, the social framework conditions should be clarified and brought into a stable order, on an individual basis. Adaptation of the systems of commuter tickets to the needs of teleworkers. Commuter tickets with special low fares are mostly aimed at the standard working situation with five days commuting per week. Using such tickets only two or three days per week, easily cannibalises the benefits. Other ticket forms may meet the needs of teleworkers better, e.g. tickets valid 10 days per month.
Academia Detailed analysis of the interrelations between changing the living and the working places with different kinds of telework, using long-term panel surveys with sufficiently large and appropriately chosen panels, to get significant results. Until now, short-term reactions to the introduction of telework have been focused upon, discussing whether moves to more distant living places will take place. More interest should be given to the long-term reactions, and in particular to changes in working places. Detailed analysis of business travel, combining an analysis of range and frequency of travel with an analysis of ICT, particularly forms of teleconferencing, used, based on probabilistic sampling with samples big enough, to get significant results. For a deeper understanding of the correlation between business travel and teleconferencing, and in particular of the quantitative aspects, a more comprehensive study will be essential. To make general findings possible, a sound basis seems necessary, as individual cases may show any results. Detailed analysis of the interrelations between telework and teleconferencing on the one, and the development of urban space and urbanisation patterns on the other hand. Suburbanisation is obviously not primarily a result of ICT use. But ICT, in particular telework and teleconferencing in combination with teleshopping may lead to significant further changes in urban distribution. A careful observation and analysis of the structural changes is essential to avoid undesired results.
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References
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Empirica GmbH (2000): Telework data report (population survey) - ten countries in comparison -, Bonn Empirica GmbH (2000): Telearbeit in Versicherungen (telework at insurance companys), Band 18 der Landesinitiative media NRW, Bonn Eurescom (2001): Telework and Quality of Life, available on http://www.eurescom.de/ European Commission (1999): Status Report on European Telework, New Methods of Work, available on http://eto.org.uk European Commission (2000): Status Report on new Ways to work in the information society, available on http://eto.org.uk European Commission (2001a): Status Report on New Ways to Work in the Knowledge Economy, available on http://eto.org.uk European Commission (2001b): Benchmarking Report following up the Strategies for Jobs in the Information Society, Brussels European Commission (2001c): eWork 2001, Brussels Evjerno, B., Yttri, B, Akselsen, S., and Julsrud, T. (2002): How does telework influence quality of life?, Telenor, available at http://www.telenor.no Families project (2002): Results http://www.families-project.com of family survey Deliverable No: 3, available on
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Shipper, L. and Fulton, L. (2001): Driving a Bargain? Using Indicators to Keep Score on the Transport-Environment-Greenhouse Gas Linkages. Washington, 75th Annual Transportation Research Board Meeting SusTel (2002): Report on SUSTEL Pilot Survey, of BT Staff, available on www.sustel.org Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistical Office, Germany) (2002): Statistisches Jahrbuch 2002 (statistical yearbook 2002), Stuttgart 2002; also used previous annual editions 1993 - 2001 Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistical Office, Germany) (annually): Fachserie 8 Verkehr, Reihe 6 Luftverkehr (series 8 transport, row 6 air transport), Stuttgart, annual editions TA Telearbeit Gesellschaft fr innovative Arbeits-, Organisations- und Geschftsformen m.b.H (2000): Telearbeit bei Sparkassen (telework at savings bank), Kln, Band 21 der Landesinitiative media NRW Vogt, W., Denzinger, S. et al. (2001): Auswirkungen neuer Arbeitskonzepte und insbesondere von Telearbeit auf das Verkehrsverhalten (effects of new concepts of work, and in particular of telework on travel behaviour), Bremerhaven 2001 Wainhouse Research: Conferencing Markets & Strategies 2001, Vol. 1, Wainhouse Research, LLC, Brookline, MA (USA) Wissenschaftliches Institut fr Kommunikationsdienste GmbH (2001) Entwicklungstrends im Telekommunikationssektor bis 2010 (future trends of telecommunication until 2010), Bad Honnef WOLF, F., ed. (1999): TKBRZL Telekonferenz der Bayerischen Rechenzentrumsleiter (Teleconference of the heads of Bavarian computer centres), Mitteilungsblatt des RegionalenRechenZentrums Erlangen (Journal of the regional computer centre Erlangen) Nr. 73, Erlangen 1999
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The authors are solely responsible for this publication and it does not represent the opinion of project partners and the European Community. Project partners and the Community are not responsible for any use that might be made of data appearing herein.

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DEESD IST-2000-28606 Digital Europe: ebusiness and sustainable development

2. Definitions and classification

Source: Wuppertal Institute, 2002

2.2 Kinds of telework and their general characteristics

2.2.2 Office-based telework

2.2.3 Mobile telework

2.2.4 On-site telework

2.2.5 Work in telecentres

2.3 Definitions used by ECaTT

The place of Telework is the living environment of the employee

including: permanent work including: alternating telework

Additional: Supplementary telework

Empirica, population survey, op.cit. p. 9 6

3.1 Current spread of telework in Europe

Table 3-1: Types of regular telework: absolute numbers

Source: ECaTT, 2001

3.2 Experience of GeSI-Partners

3.3 Additional data

Skanska Lantmnnen 58 % 25 % 17 % n.a. 0% 12

Tetra Pak (**) 61 % 19 % 39 % 19 % 3% 31

3.4 Potentials for the future

Figure 32: TKBRLZ number of datastreams 10/96 03/97

Figure 33: TKBRLZ number of datastreams 04/97 10/98

Figure 34: TKBRLZ number of datastreams from 11/98

Figure 3-5: TKBRLZ number of datastreams, as eventually foreseen for 1999

4. Transport impacts and changes

4.1 General Approach

Passenger Trips and Transport Activity (passenger-km) by Purpose - Germany 1999 -

holidays 0,2 % leisure 38,1 %

education 7,6 % business 8,7 %

Figure 4-1: Passenger Trips and Transport Activity by Purpose

4.1.2 Rebound effects by adaptation

Table 4-1: Potential turns on the impacts of telework and teleshopping

Area of impact Social

Environmental Regional development

4.1.3 Reasonable layout for telework

Description Office space & equipment 1 day/week of Home-based telework 50 : 50%

Influence on Living space & equipment Commuting distance

Not significant Reduction by 50 %

1 day/week of Office-based work

Reduction to 20 % Considerable High

Source: Wuppertal Institute

4.2 Detailed Analysis

4.2.1 Experience from individual cases

4.2.2 Collected studies

teleworkers: 32 km regional mean: 17 km

teleworkers: 3 to 4 times Dutch mean n.a.

teleworkers: 38 km national mean: 13 km 96 per cent

commuting: share 80 per cent of car drivers

Region Ireland US Canada Germany and UK US

Date of estimation 1978 1983 1983 1985

Roy and Filiatrault 1998

4.2.3 Macro data

Table 4-9: Business trips per employed person, Germany

4.3 Model calculations

their commuting their commuting saved commuting

Source: Wuppertal Institute

4.3.2 Home-based telework: worst case

Daily travel time per capita (hours)

Duration per trip (minutes) 24 24 6 30 24 16 40 24 24 72 120

Distance per trip (km) 12 12 6 18 12 16 28 12 24 144 180

Average speed (km/h) 30