Teleworking and Development Issues and Policy Considerations

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Teleworking and Development Issues and Policy
Considerations

• Cecilia Ng
• UNU/INTECH

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TELEWORKING - working from a distance/away from
the main office with the support of information
and communication technologies (ICT)

• TELETRADE - REMOTE WORK ACROSS NATIONAL BORDERS

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Framework on Teleworking
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TELEWORKING - The future of WORK IN THE
INFORMATION SOCIETY. WHY?

• Increasing digitisation of information
• Part of the trend towards more flexible forms of
  work
• Part of the trend towards decentralisation and
  outsourcing of work

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The future of WORK IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY.
(cont.)

• Provides choices for people in terms of where
  they work (especially in information processing
  jobs)
• Potential for a better quality of life through
  increased choice and autonomy over working lives

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Benefits of Teleworking to Developing Countries
(by overcoming barriers of time and space)

• Increase in productivity
• Increase in efficiency
• Increase in global competitiveness
• Create value-added employment opportunities
• Lead to sustainable development
• bring work to remote areas
• create jobs for disadvantaged e.g women, poor,
  disabled
• Lessen rural-urban migration

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WHAT JOBS CAN BE TELEWORKED?

• Management
• Sales and marketing
• Other IT specialisations (eg. Website managers)
• Graphic design
• Consultancy
• Writing and editing/journalism

• Translation
• Research
• Data entry and typing
• Secretarial work
• Telephone operators/counsellors
• Accounts
• Administration
• Desktop publishing

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Home-based Teleworking

• In Italy, Telecom staff at seven directory
  enquiry service offices have been given the
  opportunity to work from home, equipped by the
  company with a computer, modem, fax machine and
  telephone

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Telecentres/Mobile teleworkers

• In England in 1994, Digital Equipment closed down
  its regional office in Newmarket, replacing it
  with a very small telecentre for secretarial
  staff only. The remaining 90 staff have become
  flexible workers, working from home or whilst
  on the move

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Call centres

• In Ireland, staff at a hotel reservation agency
  in Cork take calls in seven European languages
  from about sixteen countries. Callers dial
  toll-free numbers in their own countries and
  their calls are automatically routed to Ireland.

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Teletrade

• In the Philippines, data entry workers have been
  inputting text and compiling the catalogue for
  the new National Library in Paris.
• In Barbados, staff (almost all women) handle
  insurance claims from policy-holders with a
  Canadian insurance company

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DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS

• PART-TIME - CORE EMPLOYEES
• FULL-TIME - CORE EMPLOYEES
• FREE-LANCED
• INDEPENDENT SUB-CONTRACTOR

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• ISSUES AND POLICY CONSIDERATIONS.

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Socio-cultural

• General lack of awareness exposure to the
  concept and meaning of teleworking and its
  various forms
• Skeptical and/or negative attitude to teleworking
  by society generally
• lack of trust of management
• lack discipline integrity and cannot be trusted
  to be self-directed
• view that Malaysians prefer face-to-face
  interaction
• lack of appreciation of family support esp. for
  home-based telework

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Infrastructure

• Hardware - high costs of installation, high
  investment costs in ICT equipment
• Software - proprietary software for teleworking
  systems is expensive other business software
  is expensive
• Services - relatively high cost of
  telecommunications instability and unreliability
  of telecommunication lines power supply
• Access - uneven distribution of services,
  telephone penetration rate of 5 per 100 in rural
  areas

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Human resources

• Lack of IT skills for new entrants into the
  labour force from secondary school, especially
  from the rural areas
• IT illiterate/deficient employees
• Many IT and other graduates do not possess the
  skills set and knowledge base required by
  industry
• Lack of teleworking skills among managers and
  teleworkers

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Regulatory Framework

• Contract terms of employment for different
  categories of teleworkers lacking
• Need for networking, support and protection of
  teleworkers, including the self-employed
• the site operation of teleworkers could pose
  problems in terms of housing and zoning issues
  eg. home-based, telecentres.

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Role of the State

• Need to prioritise sectors and occupations which
  are amenable to teleworking
• Disseminate information regarding opportunities
  in telework and teletrade
• Need to monitor and evaluate the progress of
  teleworking and teletrade in the country and
  elsewhere

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Role of the State (cont.)

• Ensure that rural and poor areas and marginalised
  groups to benefit from teleworking as part of the
  process of sustainable human development

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CONCLUSION

• STUDY POTENTIAL OF TELEWORKING
• STUDY BARRIERS
• AREAS OF INTERVENTION
• PILOT PROJECTS
• MONITORING
• DIALOGUE AMONG STATE, BUSINESS AND CIVIL SOCIETY