Telework: A Productivity Paradox?

Telework could potentially offer significant savings on fuel, office space, and carbon emissions, improve productivity and morale and even reduce the outflow of US jobs overseas. Many companies have enthusiastically embraced it, but pitfalls loom. It appears that the public sector, especially the federal government, is behind on deploying telework opportunities. The challenges of setting up office system replicas in homes or telecenters are significant. Yet the payoffs, measured in productivity gains and real estate savings alone, could make the investment pay off handsomely.