WORKFORCE OPPORTUNITY LEADERSHIP

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
Ready for Tomorrows Jobs Today
Project STRIDE Developing and Implementing
Strategies for Employing Teleworkers with
Disabilities Preliminary Findings from National
Inquiry Data
Jane Anderson, Project Director Frank Douma,
Principal Investigator
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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
Ready for Tomorrows Jobs Today
(slide master A)
Project Background

• Rationale
• Number of teleworkers increased in the U.S. from
  4 million in 1991 to 28 million in 2001.
• Despite potential benefits of telework for
  disabled individuals the number of disabled
  teleworkers has remained relatively small.

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
Ready for Tomorrows Jobs Today
(slide master A)
Research Goals

• Identify and describe the key elements of
  telework via a national inquiry and case studies
• Articulate these elements in the context of
  effective and innovative telework strategies
  through two demonstration sites

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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National Inquiry

• Frank Douma

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Areas of Interest

• General Telework
• Employees with Disabilities
• Newly Hired Teleworkers with Disabilities
• Types of job tasks and telework jobs available
  for existing and newly hired employees

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Methodology

• Literature Review
• National inquiry of human resource directors and
  managers carried out in two phases
• Pre-questionnaire
• Full questionnaire
• Two demonstration studies
• Minnesota
• Wisconsin

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
Ready for Tomorrows Jobs Today
Employer Sector Representation
Sector Response Response
Federal Government 40 91
For Profit 20 44
State Government 13 29
Non-Profit 11 27
Local Government 8 23
Universities 4 11
Other 4 10
Total 100 235
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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Telework Respondents by Industry
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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Work Force Size

• Workforce Size Percent
• 100-499 employees 26
• 20 or fewer employees 20
• 1,000-9,999 employees 19
• 10,000 or more employees 15
• 21-99 employees 12
• 500-999 employees 8

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Summary of Findings

• Pre-screening questionnaires distributed to
  15,782 human resource professionals and managers
  in the government, for-profit, and non-profit
  sectors
• 463 employers qualified and 235 of those
  completed the full questionnaire

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
Ready for Tomorrows Jobs Today
Summary of Findings

• For-profit and non-profit (non-government)
  sectors offer more telework in general
• Employers that reported having teleworkers
• 76 of non-government respondents (54 of 71)
• 60 of federal, state, and local government
  respondents (81 of 136)
• Excluding new hires, larger employers (500)
  overall provide more general telework
  opportunities for persons with and without
  disabilities.

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Relation of Company Size to Telework
Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities
Number of Employees Current Teleworkers with Disabilities
0-20 9
21-99 23
100-499 29
500-999 33
1,000-9,999 47
10,000 59
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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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However

• More opportunities available for newly hired
  teleworkers with disabilities at employers with
  less than 500 employees.
• 11 (14 of 129) at companies smaller than 500
  employees
• 7 (7 of 95) at companies larger than 500
  employees

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Teleworker Job Function by Sector
Job Functions Government (136 Respondents) Government (136 Respondents) For-Profit (78 Respondents) For-Profit (78 Respondents)

Office Tasks 39 29 28 36
Research and Analysis 39 29 18 23
Administrative 29 27 19 24
Customer Service 19 14 21 27
Technician, non-Supervisor 28 21 16 21
Programming 22 16 14 18
Claims Review 17 13 4 5
Call Centers 5 4 5 6.4
Medical Transcription 5 4 4 5
Dispatch 2 1 2 3
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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Employer Benefits

• Telework helps respond to specific employee needs
  and retain employees
• Also cited by respondents
• Increased productivity
• cost savings
• reduced operations costs

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Employer Barriers

• Trust and accountability
• Monitoring of a new teleworkers performance
• Teleworker skill levels and work habits are
  unknown (lack of physical proximity to the
  supervisor)

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Future Trends in Telework

• 31 were optimistic that all challenges with
  telework can be overcome.
• 48 indicated that telework is likely to increase
  in the next five years.

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Successful Practices for General Telework

• Organization must be ready for telework
• conditions must support the technology
  infrastructure and flexible work schedule
  policies
• Address potential employer risks such as manager
  and supervisor resistance
• Provide formal training and/or telework
  orientations
• Pay attention to overall job market conditions

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Successful Practices for Teleworkers with
Disabilities

• Job readiness training for teleworkers
• Focus on and development of employee skills
• Fit the job to telework and fully explain job
  carving/job restructuring

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Demonstration

• Jane Anderson

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Demonstration Sites

• Minnesota Resource Center
• Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute
  (University of Wisconsin)
• Goal Place 20 teleworkers in MN and WI in Year 2
  and an additional 20 teleworkers will be placed
  in year 3.
• Three customer service employers recruited to
  participate

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Evaluation

• Conduct surveys and focus groups with
• Teleworkers (paper surveys)
• Co-workers (online surveys)
• Supervisors (online surveys)
• Telework Coordinators will complete surveys, but
  wont participate in focus groups.
• Surveying for job satisfaction, productivity,
  career development/advancement, quality of home
  life, quality of employer support services, and
  incentives to stay on public financial assistance

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Research Process

• Teleworker surveys administered
• Before training
• After training, before placement
• After 6 months
• Supervisor and Co-worker surveys administered
• Before placement
• After 6 months
• Focus groups in all cases will occur after each
  survey wave
• After placement
• After 6 months

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Current Status

• 23 candidates with disabilities recruited
• 15 interested in pursuing telework careers
• 6 veterans, 2 workmens compensation recipients,
  and 7 with chronic disabilities
• 8 of 15 ultimately participated in training
  (including 3 of the veterans)

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Current Status

• 4 participants dropped out of training
• 2 for medical reasons and 2 not interested in
  customer service jobs
• 3 customer service employers are participating
  (Two outbound call centers and one inbound call
  center)

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Observations

• Half of participants had multiple physical
  disabilities
• Half diagnosed with mental disabilities
• At any given time, 25 of participants are coping
  with surgeries or med. procedures.

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Observations

• Great deal of one-on-one coaching required
• Much more job and support training has been
  needed for participants
• Lack of previous employment
• Limited job options

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
Ready for Tomorrows Jobs Today
Observations

• General misunderstanding about telework among
  employers
• Recruitment of Veterans through VA Vocational
  Rehabilitation Centers
• Telework not viewed as a priority, makes
  recruitment more difficult
• Only specific jobs and training are available, so
  narrows veteran pool

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
Ready for Tomorrows Jobs Today
Observations

• Most available telework jobs have been in
  customer service industry
• Other sectors more resistant to telework
• Health field (medical care and insurance
  providers) difficult due to federal HIPAA
  restrictions

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Next Steps

• So far, three employers have come on board
• hoping for three more by the end of the year.
• Selection of teleworkers ongoing
• Telework training offered quarterly.
• Paper and on-line surveys are being administered.
• Looking at potential for telework opportunities
  in types of job tasks such as data entry.

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
Ready for Tomorrows Jobs Today
Thank You

• Questions?

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
Ready for Tomorrows Jobs Today
Project STRIDE Developing and Implementing
Strategies for Employing Teleworkers with
Disabilities Preliminary Findings from National
Inquiry Data
Jane Anderson, Project Director Frank Douma,
Principle Investigator
WORKFORCE OPPORTUNITY LEADERSHIP
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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
Ready for Tomorrows Jobs Today
Definitions

• Telework To work at home or a at remote
  location during normal hours or shift, anywhere
  from one to five days per week, excluding
  occasional or after hours telework, sales
  forces, and mobile work.
• Teleworker A contractor or employee of a
  company/organization who works at home or at a
  remote location during normal hours or shift
  anywhere from one to five days per week.

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Definitions

• Employee with a Disability A person who has a
  permanent or chronic physical, mental health or
  sensory condition that poses a barrier to
  employment.
• Teleworker with a Disability
• 1. An employee with a disability who has
  transitioned into telework from an existing
  in-hour job or
• 2. An individual with a disability who has been
  newly hired to perform telework with no prior
  work experience with that organization.

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Lists Secured

• List Type of Contacts
• Martin Worldwide 5,000
• GSA and For-Profit Telework
• Email List 3,500
• MITE, MRC Employers, and
• LA County Employees 3,625
• International Telework Association
• Council 2,100
• International City/Council Management
• Association 1,000
• National Work and Family
• Connection Email List 300
• Downtown Minneapolis Transportation
• Management Association 150
• Human Resource Directors from
• Colleges and Universities from
• Yellow Book of Non-Profits Human Resources 100
• National Association of State Personnel
• Executives 50

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Employer Sector Representation

• Sectors
  Response Response Federal
  government 40
  91 For-profit
  20
  44 State government
  13 29
  Non-profit 11
  27 Local
  government 8
  23 Universities
  4
  11 Other
  4 10
• TOTAL 100
  235

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WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Respondents by Industry
Industry of Respondents
Government Agency 54
Technology 8
Education 8
Financial Services 7
Health Care 7
Management Consulting 6
Human Services 5
Communication 4
Research 4
Custodial, Janitorial and Business Management Hospitality Industrial Retail Sales Transportation 1 Each
Other 7
Total 118
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