Companies Find Benefits From Telecommuting
from the it-works dept
Despite the general claims making fun of people who telecommute, it seems that more companies (and their employees) are realizing the benefits of telecommuters. Contrary to popular belief, studies are showing that telecommuters actually are more productive. They tend to work a bit longer each day because they don't have to deal with a long commute. They're also more relaxed because their schedule is more flexible, allowing them to get other things done as well. While it's clearly not right for everyone or every job, it seems that telecommuting can really benefit some.
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Bring Back Shirts and Ties
ITers may think they have "won" in the short run, but the suits in the office will be busy plotting IT's destruction. When the office suits win (and this has happened in many organizations), IT will be broken up into powerless vassals attached to respective departments, answering to bosses who don't know anything about computers.
I say IT personnel should be required to wear long-sleeved white shirts and black polyester ties. They should be required to sing the company song at 8AM every morning, and run laps around the building in office loafers.
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Re: Bring Back Shirts and Ties
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Re: Bring Back Shirts and Ties
Most of the companies I've dealt with over the years set up telecommuting capabilities, but very few of them allowed an individual to work from home all the time. Most of them set up telecommuting capabilities in order to sap the uncompensated overtime from their employees in the evening and on the weekends. My company still requires me to show up and work a full day, but they will give me a laptop and the ability to log into the network remotely so I can log in at night and check my email or do those things that I would have done at work but couldn't have because I am so busy. I have yet to run across anyone in IT who actually can telecommute from home...most of us have to be around to fix computers if they break, something you cannot do very well from home.
On the other hand, the suits tend to like telecommuting...
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Re: Bring Back Shirts and Ties
Some have argued that "man-hours" is an obsolete concept; that can work both ways. Perhaps we are entering a new era when IT workers are like the industrial mechanics of old, who worked, lived, and slept with the machines they were assigned. The IT worker of the future will live next to servers with names like "Sheena" and "Darlene", featuring Friday night "dates" with LAN parties.
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