Telecommuting Still Gets A Bad Rap, But Maybe Better Than Before
from the out-of-sight dept
It's become almost routine to tease co-workers about working from home. "Telefaking" is the euphemism one Silicon Valley friend of mine calls it -- and that's when he is the one telecommuting. That skeptical of view remote workers was confirmed by a recent European study, which found that 38 percent of remote workers think their office-based mates mistrust their effort. This only adds pressure and has the opposite effect: 61 percent also report working longer hours. The study uses these stats (and others) to encourage greater support for and acceptance of remote workers. However, this study might actually indicate an improvement. Not too long ago, another survey said that 75 percent of employees think their telecommuting co-workers are just, uh, phoning it in. Granted, these are entirely different surveys done in entirely different parts of the world, but maybe there's a trend. As people get more comfortable with the idea of remote workers, they trust them (and their work) more. And perhaps, as the Europe study recommends, people are then starting to measure performance based on work accomplished rather than hours worked. Just like in the office.
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